Shinigami
by darklady919
Summary: The Shinigami are the perfect assassins. So what happens when Duo finds out that he has a sister, and they are both the strongest and oldest of the race? My first fic, please read and review.
1. Prologue

This is my first fic, so be nice. I really didn't know what to put this under, so I figured General would be safe. Don't sue me if it's not.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundum Wing. I do own this story and any OCs.

This first Chapter is really dry... and boring... don't base your reviews on the Prologue. But do review, that would be nice.

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Shinigami

" _Into the arms of the brother were we born, and into the arms of the sister will we die."_

_A Shinigami Phrase_

When a being dies, they are sorted into different places. Mortals move on; not even the immortals know what happens after that. Immortals become spirits that reside in Death's Hall, to wait for a time when they are needed. Should that time come, they are allowed to guide and even give limited assistance to those who would make a difference. But there is a third option.

Shinigami.

Powerful, strong, fast, deadly beings whose former lives were devoted to making a difference. When they died, they were given three choices, the third being to become one of the shadow walkers.

Shinigami. Death's assassins. Death's assassins, because they are strictly forbidden to kill unless they have Death's or his daughter's permission.

When a candidate dies, Gami – the second oldest Shinigami – meets them in a place in between life and death. He offers them a second life – a life in service to Death. If they accept, then that is what they become - Shinigami. If not, then they move on.

There are more or less three people who have some form of control over the Shinigami, who are generally wild. Those three are Death, Kitten - Death's daughter - and the Lady Shina. Shina is the most powerful and the oldest of the shadow walkers. She is also the first Shinigami, made so by himself and not by Gami.

When a Shinigami dies, or is about to die, then they attempt to make it to wherever the Eldest is. While they may die by the hand of another, she releases their souls from the restraints placed on them by Gami and Death. Then they either move on or go to the Hall - their choice.

However, Should either Shina or her brother Gami die, they are reborn, because they were made into Shinigami by Death himself, made so by his anger at the murder of a mother and her child. When they are reborn, they are reborn as Shinigami - not as beings that are going to become Shinigami. Shina remembers her past lives, but unless she or Death wills it Gami will not.

Duo Maxwell watched the sun set over the sea, trying to ignore the feeling that something was missing.

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See? very dry. But it is my hope that this chapter will make things easier for the readers to understand.

If you have questions, ask me in the reviews, and I will try my best to answer them.

Oh, and flames are acceptable, if not exactly loved.

DarkLady


	2. Chapter 1

Sorry. In the last Chapter, it was "She is also the first Shinigami, made so by **Death** himself and not by Gami." Death was deleted for some reason.

Anyway, after this chapter I am going to wait for reviews before continuing. And bear with me – I'm not exactly sure where this story is going either.

Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Gundam Wing, no matter how much I'd like to.

I hope this Chapter is better than the last.

Shinigami

"DUO MAXWELL! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW! INJUSTI-"

Quatre smiled as Duo pulled Wufei into yet another store. He was sitting with Trowa and Heero while finishing his lunch. Duo had decided that they all needed to go on a group trip to the mall, and had dragged them all there.

Duo had dragged them into a lot of stores, and then into the food court, where he had proceeded to wolf down his food in two minutes flat. Then he had sat there rather impatiently and waited for the others to finish, occasionally stealing food from the others when he thought he could get away with it.

Poor Wufei finished first.

Duo had grabbed Wufei and was up and off before anyone else had time to comprehend that Duo had basically just kidnapped Wufei. Duo then began to drag Wufei into as many random stores as possible.

Both Trowa and Heero winced visibly when Wufei started shouting at Duo, and then again when he was suddenly cut off. They both seemed to suddenly find their food extremely fascinating.

Because of this irrational interest in what was left of lunch, they did not see the redheaded man who watched Duo drag Wufei from store to store with open amusement. Quatre didn't know why that man out of all of them caught his interest, but he did. Something seamed – off about him. Curious about why this stranger had perked his interest, he reached out with his empathy.

And hit a solid wall.

Or rather, the lack of anything. There were no emotions coming from that man that Quatre could sense. His probe slid right around, even through (an uncomfortable feeling) where he should have felt the other's core.

Suddenly, Quatre realized that the red-haired man was starring at him. As though sensing that Quatre had registered the fact that he was looking at him, he raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

Quatre felt his face grow warm as he realized that he had been caught probing the other, and then paled as he realized that the man had felt his probe – something that had never happened unless Quatre made his presence known to the one he was sensing. Crap.

He snapped his gaze back to his lunch and kept it there.

"Quat?" He hadn't realized that Duo and Wufei had somehow made it back – both in one piece, though Wufei did look very disheveled. "You were staring off into space, then you went red, and then you went white. What happened?"

Quatre thought for a minute. "There is a red-haired man over at that table"- he indicated the table with his head –" whom I could not sense. His emotions…. It was like they were not there, or if something was blocking them. And he knew what I was doing."

Heero's eyes narrowed. No one he knew could sense Quatre's empathy. He looked over to where Quat had indicated.

"Which man?"

"That one…" Quatre's voice trailed off. The man was not there.

"Can I help you with something, little one?"

OK. I'm gone for vacation next week, so I don't know when I'll be updating. But if I get reviews, then I will try to update before I leave on Friday.

Again, flames are accepted, if not loved.

I will still try to answer any questions.

DarkLady


	3. Chapter 2

I still don't know where this story is going. But stick with me, and I will try to finish it.

Review! I know that people are at least checking out the story, but if I don't get reviews then I don't know what the readers think of it. So please review, whether it is good or bad.

Thanks to Kamui Gaia 07 and DangerousSpud7 for reviewing.

Also, I did not realize that anonymous reviews were blocked. So I un-blocked them. All reviewers are now welcome to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I never will. I do own this story.

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Shinigami

"Can I help you with something, little one?"

_Shit._ Not only had the stranger noticed, he had decided to check out the "disturbance". Though how he had managed to get so close without at least one of the others noticing was beyond him. It hadn't been that long ago that they had been Gundam Pilots, and it was very difficult for them to just let go of their reflexes. At the very least, Heero would have noticed a stranger approach their table with an obvious intent to make contact.

"Ummm… no, not really." Quatre managed to get out. Then, a bit more steadily, "Is there something we can help you with?"

The stranger opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Heero. "Who are you?"

The man looked at Heero. "That depends. Who are you?"

This time, it was Quatre who cut off Heero. He knew the others would disagree with him, but he wanted to know who this man was.

"My name is Quatre Winner, and these are my friends Duo, Heero, Trowa, and Wufei."

The man looked back at him. "You can call me Damar. And, yes, you can help me with something. What about me did you find so fascinating that it tempted you to probe where you don't belong?"

Quatre's face turned a very light pink. "I don't know what you're talking about." He responded, knowing that trying to hide it now was probably a lost cause, but trying anyway.

Damar simply looked at him.

Quatre looked back, getting redder by the second.

Damar broke the silence. "For future reference, not all immortals will take being metaphorically poked as well as I am. Be more careful." And with that, he disappeared into the crowd.

By this point, Quatre was close to looking like a tomato.

Duo spoke after a few minutes. "Did that man – Damar – seem even remotely familiar to any of you?" He asked.

"Not particularly." Wufei responded. Trowa and a still blushing Quat agreed with him.

But Heero was still looking at the place where Damar had disappeared, frowning. There had been something, something that he couldn't place, but that reminded him of when he had self-destructed Wing.

That disturbed him.

It disturbed Duo too.

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Chapter 2 done!

There is no way I can update before August 14th or 15th. I'll be camping, far away from all computers. So review while I'm away, and I'll try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can.

Review. Flames are still accepted.

DarkLady


	4. Chapter 3

I'm back from vacation; I'll try to update whenever I get an idea for where to bring this story.

If anyone would like to make a suggestion, they are welcome to. I may or may not take it, but I like to see what other people might like.

Please continue reviewing… I may just post faster in direct proportion to how many reviews I get… And I like hearing what my readers think.

Thank you to PATTY 40, Jjinks, Crysania Fay, Kamui Gaia 07, and paula1 for reviewing.

Jjinks: I think that your question is answered in this chapter. Well, part of it, anyway.

To all those who asked, I will try to make the chapters longer.

Disclaimer: _Fan_fiction. Kind of implies something, hmmmm? In case it doesn't, I do not own Gundam Wing. This story, however, is mine, as are any OCs.

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Shinigami

A woman in a long black dress sat at the large window overlooking the sea. Long brown hair was pulled back into a braid, and sorrowful blue eyes watched the waves crash. Another women, also wearing a black dress, but of a different cut, stood near the first. Her black hair was pulled into a loose bun with chopsticks, and she watched the first woman with bright green eyes. A man with red hair and black eyes walked in.

"Did you find him?" The black haired woman spoke up.

"Yes, I found all of them. There would have been no way to find him without finding the others. You know that, Kitten." He replied.

Silence. Then, a reluctant "Perhaps."

There was another long silence. Then the blue-eyed woman spoke for the first time.

"Should we be calling you 'Damar' now?" she asked, not turning away from the window. Her voice was quiet, and held a hint of sorrow.

He winced slightly. "You Saw that?"

Kitten chuckled softly. "Not the most creative name. Had they know Varilian, they would have picked up who you really were right away."

"As it was, Heero almost recognized you. He came very close to re-entering your Hall when he detonated Wing. And He would recognize you anyway." The other women added, still not looking away from the ocean view.

"Had they known Varilian, they would have known who I was _without_ asking my name. There is no way to learn that language without learning the culture, which includes me. As for Heero, even if he did recognize me, would he believe it? Would he believe that Death would take a mortal form?

(Space)

"Duo?"

Duo looked up from the book he was reading. Heero stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, a manila folder in one hand. "Yeah?" Duo answered, wondering what Heero wanted.

Heero looked at him for a few minutes. "Why did you call yourself Shinigami during the war?" He finally asked.

Duo looked at Heero, a bit surprised. Where was _this_ coming from? He wondered at the way Heero's mind worked.

"Ummm… because it means 'God of Death' and that's what I was on the battle field – the God of Death." He paused. "Why?" He just had to know why Heero was asking such a random question.

"After the war, I felt… compelled… to research 'Shinigami'. I don't know why. I know perfectly well what the term means." He paused. "At first, I only got things that confirmed what I already knew. But then I found… references… to an actual group that calls itself 'Shinigami'. I had to dig really deep to find anything else other than that. But I did manage to get some info. It was, oddly enough, in the police files. They tend to stick to the darker parts of towns and cities, when they're around at all. They refuse to take jobs – legal and illegal – and are almost never seen. Out of all that time I spent searching, I only found three actual, official, recorded instances where there was any concrete proof of their existence. All three times, one or more members of this group killed someone who had been getting increasingly violent – the victims were all gang leaders who had begun to kill ruthlessly. And… it was hinted at that the leaders had begun to do the murders using something that the witnesses said could only be magic."

Duo finally spoke up. "Ro – I hate to burst your bubble, but there is no such thing as 'magic'."

Heero shrugged. "Do you really think that I don't know that? I'm just repeating the testimonies of the witnesses." He fell silent for a moment. "The point is that these three gang leaders, who had begun to kill people by some unspecified means, were all killed by a group calling themselves the Shinigami. There were no witnesses for any of the deaths. The only way they know about the Shinigami doing it was that at the site of each death, there was a message written on the wall with the blood of the dead man. There was no body, no weapons, no witnesses – just the message, signed with an entwined scythe and whip, and the Japanese characters for Shinigami."

Duo frowned. "But if there was no body, then how do they know that the gang leaders were dead? And how do they know that it was the men's blood?" He asked.

"Because of the amount of blood used to write the message – no one can live without that much blood. As for how they knew whose blood was on the walls, they did DNA testing."

Duo blinked. That had to be a lot of blood. "Do I want to know what was written?"

Heero lifted the folder he had been holding and began to leaf through it. He came to a picture, which he took out and handed to Duo.

Duo's eyes widened at the amount of blood. He had killed countless people during the war, but he had never seen that much blood from one person. _The person must have been little more than a dried up husk when they were done with him_ he thought.

The wall in the picture was covered in blood. _Covered_. What wasn't written on had streaks running down it. The message read:

Mortals were not meant to play with the forces that this one found. None of you could have killed him, so we did it for you. This is the only warning we give to those who would follow in his path. It will destroy themselves and the others that surround them. Consider yourselves warned – we used the forces to kill the trespasser.

Underneath this was the entwined scythe and whip, and the Japanese characters for Shinigami.

Duo looked up at Heero. "'Forces'? What is all that about?"

"I believe that they were referring to whatever the witnesses to the murders performed by the gang leaders thought was magic. But didn't that Damar man that Quat managed to piss off say something about mortals and immortals?"

"Do you think that he is one of the Shinigami?"

"I don't know. I'm still doing more research about this group. I just found it odd that you managed to coincidentally choose the same name that these people did."

Duo shrugged. "I've never heard of them before. And even if he is a Shinigami, that doesn't explain why we both felt that we've met him. It actually raises more questions."

Heero shrugged and took the picture back from Duo. "I just thought that you should know." He turned around and left Duo to his book.

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I hope you all liked it!

I'm sorry that everyone is pausing. I'll try to work on that in the future…

Any questions you have I will try to answer, either right out or in the story.

Jjinks: I hope that first part at least helped with your question. Any other info will come later, I promise!

Please review!

DarkLady


	5. Chapter 4

Hello!

A Thank you goes out to Jjinks for reviewing. I greatly appreciate it. Now if only everyone else would. Even if you don't like it, review anyway. I don't know if anyone liked that last chapter, since _almost no one reviewed_.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Jjinks: Correct. The 'forces' are magic. And, no – Duo knows less than you do as of now (he didn't get to read the prologue), but as he meets Shinigami (and he will) he may start to find himself knowing things. And I'm trying to get out a little more about the Shinigami each chapter. THANK YOU for your review.

Disclaimer: Yes, I own Gundam Wing. Not. Would I be writing Fanfiction if I did?

Please enjoy! (and review…)

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Shinigami

(3 months have passed)

Duo was in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. He finally decided on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which he made. He was in the middle of eating it when Quatre called for the others to come and see the new.

Duo tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach as he trotted on over to the living room, still eating his sandwich, and hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.

It was.

For the fifth time in the past two months, someone had been murdered. There were little or no similarities in the victims, cause of death, etc., except for a circle and cross type symbol burned into a wall or floor nearby the body.

The first person murdered was a middle-class man who was found in his home, dead; circle and cross had been burned onto the wall. Once examined by a coroner, the cause of death was suffocation – his body had not been able to get enough air. The only problem was that nothing was found that could have suffocated him.

The second victim, a well-know businessman, died in the middle of a meeting. He suddenly began grasping his throat, as though choking, and collapsed. When they picked him up, they found the burned circle and cross underneath him. The coroner confirmed that he seemed to have choked, except that there was nothing in his throat.

The third victim was actually on the wanted list – she was a professional thief. She was found dead in an alleyway, with the circle and cross burned into the wall behind her. Word was that she had died of fright.

The fourth victim had been a common thug. It was assumed that he knew someone was out to get him, because he was found in a room locked from the inside and without windows. He was found in a mangled mound – body parts twisted and out of shape, warped. The burned circle and cross had been on the floor. That had been the last murder, and had taken place the week before.

Now a fifth victim had been claimed. There would have been no way to tell who he was had he not been in the police station at the time. He had come to the police for help, knowing that he was being hunted. They put him in a questioning room for a few minutes, alone, before going in to ask him about who was chasing him. When they came back, there was nothing left of him that was bigger that a hand. He had been completely shredded. On a corner of the metal table that was miraculously free of the carnage was the burnt circle and cross. When the police checked the video, they found that for those few minutes, there was nothing but static.

The news report came to an end, with a last statement about how the Preventers were going to have to get involved now that the police very obviously couldn't handle it. Wufei shut off the TV. The former pilots sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you think that those Shinigami people are doing this?" Duo asked Heero.

"No – it isn't their style. And the symbol is all wrong; it looks nothing like the scythe and whip that the Shinigami have used in the past." Heero replied.

"What on Earth and the colonies are 'Shinigami'?" Wufei snapped.

Heero just sighed, and went to his room to get his folder. When he came back, he explained what he had found. With sarcastic inserts from Duo.

"This sounds more like the thing that the Shinigami were trying to stop each time, actually." Trowa said thoughtfully. "It doesn't sound like something they would do."

"They literally drained three bodies of blood to write a few messages on some walls, and you think there is something they _wouldn't_ do?" Wufei said, sounding shocked.

"I think they're kind of honorable." Duo said thoughtfully, which got everyone staring at him. Duo? Being thoughtful? And he continued to surprise them more.

"You know, they kill these murderers, and while they could be seen as heroes for it, they chose to stay in the shadows. That sounds humble. Besides, now that I think about it, I don't think they'd do something like that at all."

They all just stared.

Even Duo seemed a little surprised with what he had said. Then he grinned.

"So who wants a sandwich?"

(space)

Duo heard the phone ring. Blinking, he went and picked it up.

"Winner residence."

"Duo?" To his surprise, it was Lady Une. "Duo, I really need to speak to Heero. Now."

"Got it, Lady. Hold on one sec." Duo answered. Then he called out to Heero in the loudest voice he could manage so Heero would hear him: "HEERO! LADY UNE IS ON THE PHONE AND SHE WANTS YOU _RIGHT NOW_!"

"Duo! Did you really have to scream it out to the world!" Une snapped.

Heero appeared from out of nowhere and wrestled the phone from Duo, throwing him a look that said "get out if you feel like living." "Yes, he did, he doesn't know any other way. What did…" Heero's voice faded as Duo ran for his life.

And smashed into Wufei.

And after several minutes of Wufei chasing him around the house, he smashed into Heero. Who grabbed his braid and pulled him along, calling to Wufei to follow.

Heero brought them to the living room, where Trowa and Quatre already were. He tossed Duo to the floor and waited for Wufei to catch up. Once they were all there, Heero preceded to tell them the news.

"Une wants us to come for a meeting at Preventers Headquarters. She didn't tell me why, but I think that you all know that if she's asking us for help then she's desperate."

And they did. The government did not want them to be doing anything even remotely related to guns, and told her as much. They did not want them in close proximity with dangerous weapons, and made it clear to her that if she hired them, they would shut down the whole program.

So to even ask them for help, she had to get the government's permission. And that was no easy task.

They also knew that to turn down that plea for help would be near suicide – the government would tear them to pieces.

Quatre sighed. "So when are we leaving?"

(space)

(3 days later, Preventer HQ)

Duo, Heero, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei all sat in chairs across from Lady Une, who was sitting at her desk. She had had them shown in immediately upon arrival, and they were given folders to look over while waiting for her to become free. The folders had all the police reports, evidence, data, etc. for the 'circle and cross' murder cases. Une had come in about 10 minutes after their arrival.

"Let me guess – you want us to find and stop whoever is doing this." Duo stated.

Une looked at him. "Yes, that is exactly what I want you to do. You would been seen as an independent team working for the Preventers for a while as you worked on the case, giving you Preventer access to whatever you need, and additional high security clearance, if you need it. You will also either be on the team or be the team that goes in to neutralize the threat."

"All of this? Why is the government letting us have all that access to stuff we could never get to – legally, anyway." It was Quatre who spoke. "We know the government doesn't exactly like us."

"They're allowing this for two reasons. One, they don't want the public to panic; and two, they don't want to be next. They know that you five are the only people who have the abilities to bring down this criminal with any amount of speed. So they are going to cooperate in any way possible." Une looked pleased, and with good reason. She had wanted the former Pilots on the Preventers before, but had not been allowed to hire them.

Wufei spoke up. "What if we don't want to do it? I mean, why should we come to there aid only because now it's convenient for them to have a bunch of highly trained specialists?"

Une shrugged. "It's your call. But they will make life very difficult for you if you refuse."

The pilots looked at each other. Finally Heero spoke. "We'll do it. But not for you, and not for the government. We just don't want to see anyone else dead over this."

"Besides," Duo muttered. "If I'm right, then we'll be getting help from even more dangerous people anyway."

(space)

The next few weeks went by pretty quickly. There were two more murders, both of gang leaders. One's head seemed to have exploded, and the other was half burnt to a crisp and half frozen solid. There was no doubt about it, the murders were getting stranger as they went.

Heero spent most of the time on the computer, trying to find connections between the murders, and finding background info on possible leads. Duo, Trowa, and Wufei met with people who said they had leads, and did the actual tracking. Quatre looked in the upper circles for suspects.

_Finally_, they got an actual lead. One they could work with.

It turned out that the victims were all connected in one way or another with one of the criminal overlords – Denis Darigne, or DD. The thief had been hired by him at one point, but had cheated him out of one too many profits; the gang leaders had opposed him; the businessman had been giving him money, but had pulled his support for some reason. As the Pilots dug deeper, they found more than enough evidence to pull DD in for questioning. Even if he hadn't been the one to actually kill the people, he would have been the one to hire the assassin or assassins.

So they set their dates, and prepared to move in.

(space)

"_Positions?"_ Heero's voice came through the walkie-talkies. Duo shifted where he was; he didn't like waiting, but Heero was mission leader.

"Death, in position." He replied, listening as Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei all sent their affirmatives as well, using their chosen code names. Heero was Odin, Duo was Death, Trowa was Silence, Quatre was Sand, and Wufei was Dragon.

The command came. _"Move in."_ As soon as Heero finished speaking Duo was moving in with the silence and grace as a cat, knowing that the others were doing the same.

They had tracked DD down to a warehouse on the outskirts of Tokyo. Once they knew for certain that he was in there, they had surrounded the place and prepared to move in.

Which was what they were doing now.

Duo jumped from his position and landed on a sort of side roof on the target building. There was a window in easy access from the side roof that was where Duo would enter. Before he went in he looked in, and saw Denis in there, sitting at a table, playing what looked to be solitaire. "He's in there." Duo whispered through the walkie-talkie. He didn't get an answer, but he didn't expect one either. He paused outside the window –

"_NOW!" _ Came Heero's command. Instantly Duo had thrown himself through the window and landed on the rafters (a/n: I don't know how he did it, but take my word for it.), gun loaded and ready. He heard Heero shout, "Freeze!" And he knew that they had DD surrounded.

And Denis Darigne laughed.

Duo frowned, Denis shouldn't have been laughing. Heero had knocked down the front door, and was kneeling where it used to be with a pistol pointed at Denis' head. Duo was in the rafters, with his own gun pointed at Denis. Quatre and Trowa had entered through the ground floor windows to either side of Denis and Wufei was guarding the back. There wouldn't be any way for Denis to escape, and even if he did manage to get past the five of them, he would have to get through the Preventers surrounding the building.

And even though they had him surrounded and outnumbered, something didn't feel quite right.

Denis held up his hand – it was empty. Then a red ball of flame appeared hanging over his palm. He laughed again, and threw it at Heero.

Heero managed to throw himself to cover, and it was a good thing that he had to. The part of what remained of the door went up in flames, and then died down, nothing left but ash. Duo could hear Quatre reporting what had happened to the other Preventers using the walkie-talkie. Again Denis began to gather flame.

"Stop."

Denis' flame went out. Angrily his eyes narrowed as he tried to call the flames back. Nothing happened. "Who said that?" He snarled, trying to figure out what happened.

"I did."

A woman with long ash-blond hair pulled into a ponytail appeared in the middle of the room, standing opposite Denis. She was wearing all black, and her eyes were glowing violet.

"My name is Ferrana, and I have come on behalf of my people, the Shinigami. I have come to kill you"

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Well, how was it?

I'm not psychic, or even emphatic. I need reviews to know what people think. So please review!

I hope this was long enough.

Thanks for reading!

DarkLady


	6. Chapter 5

Hello!

Thank you Patty 40, Vwolf Youjutsu, Jjinks, and Tora Tigera for reviewing! I appreciate it!

Keep the reviews coming!

Sorry for taking so long to update. School started though, so it will take longer for me to update. Partially because I don't type fast, and partially because I have trouble thinking _what_ to write (I _still_ don't know where this is going…). And now I have homework.

Anyway, please read and review, and enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: Lets see… I write fanfiction… I go to school… and I'm not Japanese… so, no, I don't own Gundam Wing. I never will.

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Shinigami

(Last time)

"Stop."

Denis' flame went out. Angrily his eyes narrowed as he tried to call the flames back. Nothing happened. "Who said that?" He snarled, trying to figure out what happened.

"I did."

A woman with long ash-blond hair pulled into a ponytail appeared in the middle of the room, standing opposite Denis. She was wearing all black, and her eyes were glowing violet.

"My name is Ferrana, and I have come on behalf of my people, the Shinigami. I have come to kill you."

(Now…)

Duo stared at the woman. One minute, Denis was hucking fire balls at them, the next a woman dressed in black with glowing violet eyes who said she was part of a group that killed people was stopping him.

This was getting _really_ weird.

It was the eyes that captivated Duo. They were the exact shade of violet that his were.

He had never met someone with eyes the same color as his.

Duo heard someone shout from the door. "You are meddling in Preventer business! Please back away from the suspect!"

"_Backup's arrived." _ He heard Wufei snort through the W-T. _"And they've decided no help is better than non-Preventer help."_

"Yeah, well I could shoot the backup right now. _Any_ help is better than no help." Duo muttered back.

"_I agree. Especially help that seems to know what she's doing."_ Trowa kicked in.

"_I think Heero agrees with us."_ Quatre chuckled. _"He's giving the Preventer who said that the Glare of Death."_

"_I really don't think she cares, actually." _Trowa murmured. _"As she seamed to be ignoring us and the Preventers completely."_

Duo had to agree that this was the case, as she continued to speak to DD as though she hadn't been interrupted in the first place.

"You must have seen the warnings." She said. "You had to have known that you could not get away with what you were doing. You had to know what we would do. So why?"

Denis laughed. "The other three you killed were weak. I did research – I'm much stronger than they ever were. Even now, the spell you originally cast is breaking, and I will call the fires back!" Something snapped, and Denis flung his hand up into the air, gathering fire, and flung it at Ferrana.

She dogged, and snapped her wrist out. A whip materialized in her hands. Denis again attempted to throw fire at her, but she snapped the whip at it, and it disappeared. She began to advance.

"_She's good."_ came Quatre's voice.

Denis' eyes grew fearful. Then the evil glint came back though. He held his hand up and began to gather more energy.

"_Why is he doing that? He knows it won't work."_ Duo barely even heard Trowa's whisper, but he agreed. Something wasn't right.

Denis grinned, and Ferrana stopped where she was, frowning. Denis threw the fire.

At Duo.

Who didn't even have time to realize that he had just become target number one, never mind dodge a ball of flame.

Suddenly everything around Duo went dark.

He felt… warm, safe. Like someone had him in a warm embrace. But other than that, he saw and felt nothing. Not even the flames.

Duo began to wonder if he had died on impact.

But then the darkness parted, as did the warm and safe feeling. He was on the ground, looking at a off Denis and a shaken Ferrana. He turned around.

A man about half a foot taller than he was stood there, shoulder-length brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, the glow from violet eyes fading.

Large black wings the same color as ebony were unfolded behind him.

(change point of view)

This… _idiot_… was, for all his talk, by no means the strongest fool Ferrana had faced. The mortal – Denis? – was actually one of the weaker ones she had fought. His strength wasn't very high, and he depended almost exclusively on his fireballs, which was a remarkably easy spell to block. Yeah, so he had almost singed her, but everyone had _some_ luck.

And then he had thrown one at Duo.

She had been unable to do anything because she was too far away, but Alan, who had been providing backup for her, had seen the danger and had prevented it by forming a sort of shield around the both of them with his wings, then phasing to the ground below. Duo was safe.

She felt a surge of fury in the back of her mind, and an all to familiar presence materialize behind her, shrieking.

"_HOW DARE YOU!" _

Ferrana winced. _This guy's not going to be around for much longer_, she thought. _The Eldest is here. He doesn't stand a chance. Not against her_.

"How dare you!" The Lady snarled again.

This – wasn't going to be pretty.

(change point of view)

Before Duo even got a chance to open his mouth to ask _why_ this guy had wings, he heard a shriek from behind him.

"_HOW DARE YOU!" _

He snapped around, and saw a woman who was not the first nearly hissing with rage. Long brown hair was pulled into a braid, and blue eyes glowed with anger. Black wings tinged with purple were unfurled behind her. She was wearing all black, right down to the knee-high boots. She was the first of these Shinigami that did not have purple eyes.

She was in no way, shape, or form happy.

"How dare you!" She snarled at Denis, who had gone completely white. He looked like a man who had been sentenced to death and had just now realized it. "How DARE you touch him? Die!" She raised a scythe above her head and charged Denis.

"She's fast!" Wufei shouted.

Denis didn't have a chance.

She cleaved him in two.

Then she pulled back, drew her right hand up in front of her face, second and third fingers up.

What was left of Denis exploded. The body was completely obliterated. There wasn't even any blood.

The new lady smiled smugly.

"Alright!" _It's that damned Preventer again! Why won't he shut up?_ Duo thought. "You are all under arrest for murder and for interfering in Preventer business!"

Heero cut him off as the other pilots came out of hiding. "Oh, just _shut up_. Haven't you done enough today?" He snapped at the man.

The Preventer wilted under Heero's glare.

"It's alright." The blue-eyed woman snorted. "I highly doubt that he could hold even one of us against our will anyway." She continued dryly. Ferrana and the guy who had saved Duo both nodded in agreement.

For several long moments, Heero and the lady regarded each other. Then Heero nodded once, and she smiled.

"I am the Lady Shina. This is Ferrana Nadrey, and this is Alan Tegrar." She indicated the other two. "We are Shinigami."

"How are you going to write your bloody message now?" Wufei snapped from where he was sitting.

"There are people here who can hear our message and pass it on to others. Perhaps now that people hear it directly from us, they will take heed." Alan stated.

"And if there hadn't been people here?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Then thing would have turned out quite differently." Ferrana answered, glancing at Shina, who nodded.

"Yes, things would have been very different." The Lady murmured quietly. Then she smiled again. "But things did not turn out differently, so we shall simply give our message to all of you. The Shinigami are the guardians of certain – forces – that are probably beyond your understanding. You would probably call them 'magic.' It is our job to send those who misuse these forces to await justice from Death. This means death for anyone who uses these powers wrongly."

"How do we know that you're not lying?" Wufei asked. You could simply want these powers for yourselves."

"Good point." Shina answered. "But I am not capable of lying, and all other Shinigami take oaths to prevent them from lying out of respect for me."

"What makes you so special?" The annoying Preventer snapped. _Good grief_, Duo thought, _someone really needs to shoot that man._

"She's the Eldest, the first Shinigami, the Lady." Ferrana sounded shocked and slightly offended. "She is like a mother to us all. She's our leader and she is the only one of us with blue eyes." She pointed to her own. "All of our eyes are this violet."

Dead silence.

"Duo's eyes are that same exact color." Heero pointed out, sounding a bit surprised. Which for him, probably meant that he was in shock.

"Yes, they are." Shina said sadly. Something about the way she said it seemed off… Duo went to speak, but was cut off by Heero.

"Something about this has to do with Duo." It wasn't a question. "1, DD attacked him, 2, Alan protected him, 3, You – Lady – were absolutely furious and killed Denis for so much as 'daring to touch him', and 4, Duo's eyes are the same exact shade of violet that your underlings are. And even though you _say_ you can't lie, that doesn't mean that your not."

"True." Shina admitted. She let her eyes wander across the group, finally resting on Quatre. "Well, little Empath? Am I lying?"

All eyes turned to Quatre, who blinked in surprise, and must have said the first thing on his mind.

"How do you know I'm an Empath?"

She smiled kindly. "Two reasons. 1, you've been using your gift to read everyone in the vicinity since this whole thing started, and 2, you had a run in with a friend of mine at a mall recently."

Quatre frowned. "No, she's not ly- hey! You know Damar!"

"Is he a Shinigami?" Duo interjected.

"No, he's not." She paused. "But – he was here today, sort of."

They all stared at her, un-comprehending.

It was Ferrana who saved them. "Damar. 'Death' in Varilian. The man you met isn't really a man at all."

"More like a living concept." Alan put in.

Shina smiled slightly, but then her eyes unfocused, as though she was talking to someone else, far away. "We have to go." She said finally. "Now."

"Yes, Lady." Both Ferrana and Alan said in unison, bowing slightly to her, before disappearing.

Shina turned and looked at Duo. "Stay safe, brother." She whispered, so only Duo could hear it, then she, to, was gone.

They left no trace that they had ever been there.

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You like?

Be nice and review. Please?

Or don't be nice, I don't care. Just review. I would like to hit 20 reviews before updating again, or perhaps (do I dare hope?) 30. That is only 7 reviews! Would just **_7_** people review for me? That isn't too much to ask, is it?

Thanks for reading!

DarkLady


	7. Chapter 6

Hello again!

I love you all! I got the 7 reviews in just 2 days, and then 3 more since then! You have no idea just how happy I am!

Thank you Sutoomu, gnome1, Maskelle, Max, PATTY 40, ShesshaWaRurouni, Jjinks, Old Friends for Lunch, foxwhite, and Vwolf Youjutsu for reviewing!

Because of the rapid response, I'm trying really hard to update faster. Unfortunately, that isn't really working…

**_Good News_**! I have a vague idea of where this story is going! (Finally…)

Disclaimer: I OWN THE WORLD! (But not Gundam Wing. Unfortunately.)

Please read, enjoy, and review!

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Shinigami

A young girl of about nine years with long silver hair flowing down her back and bright blue eyes was standing in front of Duo. They were both wearing the same thing – brown pants and shirts. She had a mischievous look in her eyes as she giggled at something he had said.

"Come on Duo! Lets cause as much trouble as we can before they stop us!" Even as she said this, her hair was turning brown and braiding itself. Making her an almost exact copy of himself. She winked at him, and then ran off in one direction, while he took off in the other; a nine year old and an eleven year old _trying_ to cause mischief.

The alarm clock woke Duo up.

"What on Earth or Colonies was _that_?" He asked himself.

An idea formed in his mind. When the girl's hair had turned brown, she had looked a _lot_ like a very young Shina.

But that just caused even more questions. Such as why was he dreaming of a woman he had met a grand total of once in his life? And why were they both so young in it?

Could this dream be real somehow? A memory? But he grew up on the streets, with no family. Didn't he?

_Flashback_

_Shina smiled slightly, but then her eyes unfocused, as though she was talking to someone else, far away. "We have to go." She said finally. "Now."_

"_Yes, Lady." Both Ferrana and Alan said in unison, bowing slightly to her, before disappearing._

_Shina turned and looked at Duo. "Stay safe, brother."_

_End Flashback. _

She had called him brother. Why?

(Space)

Duo sat at the table, staring at his cereal as it became soggy, thinking about his dream. That was the state Quatre found him in as he came to get his own breakfast.

Quatre stared at Duo. Was something wrong? He had never seen Duo look so unhappy.

"Duo?"

No response.

"Duo?"

Again, no response.

Quatre put his hand on Duo's shoulder and shook him a little.

"Duo? Are you alright?"

Duo blinked and looked up at Quatre. Instantly the jesters mask was beck in place as he grinned at Quatre and began to shovel food into his mouth.

"Hey Q! I didn't see you there! Good morning!" He said in between mouthfuls.

Quatre just stared at Duo as he began inhaling his food. Then he used his empathy, just a little… Duo was trying to fool him. He sensed confusion and slight depression from the teen, not the cheery feelings he would have gotten if Duo had actually been happy.

"Duo…" he sighed. "You know that I'm not fooled. Why do you bother?"

Duo shrugged, finishing his breakfast. "There's a first time for everything?" He tried, grinning a little foolishly. The mask dropped completely. "What do you know about the truth of dreams? Is it possible to dream of a past you don't remember?"

Quatre sat down across from Duo at the table. "Fortune tellers sometimes tell you details about yourself, and some of the better ones are said to know more about your past than you do, but is any of it true? I don't know." He paused, looking at Duo. "What did you dream?"

"I – I'm not sure, really. I was with this girl – she's nine, I'm about eleven – but then she changed to look like Shina, just really young. She said something about causing trouble, and then we both ran in opposite directions. Then I woke up." _Wow_, Duo thought. _That sounded_ _really corny. _"And as time passes, I forget a little more."

Quatre frowned. That meant that that probably wasn't all of it. Well, there was one way to find out, he just wasn't sure if it would work. Sometimes he could pick up what others were dreaming. But if it was a memory of a dream that might be a memory…

"Focus on it. I want to try something." Quatre said.

Duo did as he was told, and watched as Quatre shut his eyes. A few moments later, his eyes opened.

"Did you get it?" Duo asked.

"Yes, I did." He murmured quietly. Something hadn't been quite right with that dream… and he had noticed something Duo might have missed…

"You know that when her hair color shifts, she makes her self look a lot like you." He sated.

Duo's head snapped up. "That's odd. I thought she looked a lot like Shina."

"Shina looked lot like you." Both Duo and Quatre turned to look at the door, where Heero was leaning. "I noticed something else, too. When she introduced the others, she gave first and last names. But when she introduced herself, she simply said 'Lady Shina'."

"Why would she omit her last name?" Quatre asked, sounding puzzled.

"Another thing," Heero continued. "She said something to you, Duo, right before she left. What was it?"

Duo looked away. He still hadn't told them what she had said.

"Duo?"

He looked at Quatre, then out the window. "She said 'Stay safe, brother.'"

Dead silence.

Finally Quatre said, "It would make sense – why she looks like you and all that."

Duo shrugged, he didn't know what to think anymore. Heero was silent as well. Duo got up.

"I'm going out for a while." He said, before going into the hallway. The other two watched after him until they heard the front door shut.

Heero looked at Quatre, who said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I don't have any answers."

Heero turned around and left the room without another word, leaving Quatre to have his breakfast.

(Space)

Shina sighed sadly, watching the image in the water disappear. They had been so close this time! She stood up from her seat on the ground next to the crystal lake. Duo was so confused, and she really couldn't blame him. It was, after all, her who had sent the dream, and there would be others that would follow. Eventually, what she had set in motion would continue without her interference. She would have rather not done it at all, but events were being set in motion, and Duo would need to remember everything soon.

Because the Shinigami, her children, were going to be lacking a leader soon.

But perhaps she could still help him. Help him understand, if nothing else. Understand what was happening, and why. He had never had her foresight, but his intuition was amazing…

She would have to get close to him. To him and the others.

She smiled sadly. It had been their Choice.

And she wished with all her heart that they had Chosen differently.

(Space)

Duo walked down the streets of Tokyo. He wasn't sure what had made him go for a walk, but he had felt the need to go _somewhere_.

He found himself at the beach.

He walked down the beach; aware that he had been gone for several hours now, but since his cell phone hadn't rung, he was pretty sure the others weren't looking for him. He really just needed some time to think about this whole thing that had been going on. In his opinion, this whole thing had started when they met Damar – Death? – at the mall. Figures the god he nicknamed himself after would be the one to cause trouble in his life.

He continued down the beach for another hour or so, reflecting on how strange things had gotten.

His cell rang.

"Duo here." He said, wondering if it was one of the other pilots.

"Duo? Where have you been?" Came Quatre's voice. "You've been gone for over four hours. Where are you?"

"I'm fine Quatre. I'm at the beach. I just needed some time to think. It'll probably be another two hours before I get back, OK?" He replied cheerfully, hoping Quatre would get the hint and let him be for a little while longer.

"Alright Duo. Call if you need a ride or anything."

"I will, Q." Just then, he heard a scream from not to far away. "Quat, I _really _need to go right now. Call you later!" He yelped before hanging up on him. He shut off his cell phone and sprinted in the direction he had heard the scream.

He found himself at a very rocky part of the beach. The rocks were large and slippery, but that had never bothered him. He _liked _challenges.

He didn't hear anything else, though. Then, just as he was about to give up, he heard a muffled 'Ow' coming from a crevice.

Carefully, he made his way over, and looked in. A girl with long white hair and blue eyes looked back at him.

"It's you!" He cried out, shock evident in his voice. It was the girl from the –

A sad presence enveloped his mind._ I'm sorry…_ came the soft whisper, and then he was falling…

He blinked, feeling as though he had had something, a piece of the puzzle he had been looking for, but it had escaped him.

"Umm, excuse me, but perhaps you can get me out of here?" The girl asked, interrupting his thoughts. "I sort of fell in, and I can't seem to get out." She looked at him hopefully. "Can you help?"

"Sure. Are you the person who screamed?" He asked, holding out his hand towards her. She reached up, but could barely touch it.

"Yeah, I screamed when I fell. Damn! I can't reach."

"Jump." He replied. She gave him an incredulous look. "No, really, jump. I'm stronger than I look. I'll pull you up."

She gave him a look that clearly said, _I don't believe you_, but jumped anyway. He caught her hand, and slowly pulled her up to the point where she could get herself out.

"Wow," she said. "I didn't think you would be able to do it. No offence, but you don't look very strong."

"Don't worry about it." He said, giving her a wry grin. "I get that all the time."

"Oh." She said, looking at him for a minute. "Well, thank you very much for your help. By the way, my name is Virginia."

"I'm Duo. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." He helped her to a standing position.

"That's cool. I don't lie, either. It gets in the way of things, in my opinion." She replied, taking a few steps and wincing when her weight fell on her left foot. "I think I injured my foot on my last solo attempt of escaping that pit." She muttered.

"Hold on a sec. I'll call a friend of mine, we'll see if we can help. He can be hear in half an hour if I call now, and it's probably going to take that long to get somewhere he can pick us up." He said pulling out his cell phone.

"That would be nice. I don't think I could make it if I tried to get out of here alone."

"Then it's settled." He replied, grinning, as he began to dial Quatre's number.

(Space)

"Duo, how do you get yourself into these messes?" Quatre asked exasperatedly. He and Trowa had driven out to meet Duo and Virginia at the beach, and had driven up just as Duo and Virginia made it to the parking lot.

"I swear, it's magnetically attracted to me. But I heard a scream!" He protested, seeing Quatre's eye role. "She could have been being murdered, or attacked, or – "

"We get the point, Duo." Trowa cut in.

"Come on. Lets get her back to the house." Quatre sighed. "Miss. Virginia, where are you staying?" He asked politely.

"Oh, no where in particular. I've been floating, as I don't have enough money to stay anywhere."

"You don't have _any_ money?" Duo asked, shock written across his face.

"No, I don't."

"Why don't you stay with us while you heal, then?" Quatre asked. "I have plenty of space, so you can have all the space you'd like."

"I can't intrude on you that way!" She yelped. "Not after all you've done for me!"

"Well, you will." Trowa put in, smiling slightly. "Quatre is going to make you stay until you're fine."

"Well… If it's that important to you…"

"It is!" Duo laughed. "Quatre thinks he needs to help everyone, and you are in that category."

She sighed softly. "Well, then it seems like I have no choice. Alright, I accept."

"Cool!" Duo cheered. "We finally have a girl in the house!"

(Space)

Shina smiled softly to herself. Well, at least she knew what she was getting into, even if it included changing their memories slightly. They had recognized her from the dream, which she hadn't realized Quatre had seen, but she had fixed that. They would no longer connect her with the dream child.

Now, maybe, she could help all of them.

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Well, I hope you all liked it!

By the way, I don't know if there are any beaches like that in Tokyo, but in my story, there are.

PLEASE REVIEW!

You all did so well last chapter. Keep it up!

Later!

DarkLady


	8. Chapter 7

Hi…

Do I need to set an amount of reviews? Last time, I got the reviews I asked for in 2 days, but this time I only got 2 reviews in 2 weeks…

Sorry it took so long to update! School's been killing me… and while I knew _basicall_y what this chapter would be about, I couldn't work out the specifics (thank writer's block). The lack of reviews didn't help either…

Thank you Vwolf Youjutsu and Jjinks for reviewing!

Jjinks: Thanks. I fixed it, I think.

Disclaimer: Do you really think**_ I_** own Gundam Wing?

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

Astear was a demon. A minor one, but a demon.

And he still didn't like the Hall of Darkness.

It hadn't always been there, but that long ago a woman with enough power to make all the demons and devils in the area submit to her had come and put it there. Since then, She made them all do Her dirty work, reporting to Her in Her throne room

She called herself the Queen of Demons.

No one knew Her real name, or where She had come from. It was widely assumed that She was an immortal that had chosen the Dark Path. But no one knew for sure.

Astear was one of the unfortunate ones. He had been given a task.

Watch the Eldest. Should she start to favor any one being, report back to the Hall of Darkness.

In all honesty, Astear was pretty sure that the Eldest knew he was watching her. The Eldest did not have a reputation for being dumb. Though she had never shown any sign that she knew, Astear knew that that really didn't mean anything. As far as he knew, the Eldest had never made a move against a demon or devil unless they were the one initiating the contact.

She did have a reputation for being a bit daft.

But at least he had news to report to his "Queen". The Eldest had moved in with a bunch of mortals. If that wasn't favoring, then he didn't know what was.

He approached the far end of the throne room. He didn't see her; the shadows seamed to hide her. All Astear could see was a woman's shape upon a throne.

He moved closer.

(Change point of view)

She watched he demon approach her. She hoped that he had good news; otherwise he was going to find himself very dead.

She had heard Death's Hall did not take too kindly to demons or devils.

"_Your Highness_," he spat out. "The Eldest has moved in with five mortals. Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang. She is disguised as a mortal."

Good news, indeed.

(Space)

Duo found himself as a child again.

This time, both he and the other girl were a little older, maybe 15 and 13. She once again had white hair that was pulled back into a simple ponytail. They were both standing in front of a desk of some sort, in what looked like a study/library. A man with short silver hair and blue eyes sat at the desk with a very exasperated expression on his face. A woman with short-ish blond hair and chocolate brown eyes stood next to him, looking like she was amused and trying to hide it.

The man spoke "What am I going to do with the both of you?"

The woman chuckled softly. "Maybe we could give them points for originality. I haven't seen a prank like that in _ages_."

The man shook his head. "You should be taking this more seriously! If the people found out-"

His voice cut out as Duo was again awakened by his alarm clock.

"If this keeps happening, I'm going to _kill_ that alarm clock." He groaned. "Great. Now I have two _more_ mysterious people to identify."

He looked at the clock again. Six o' clock.

"I wonder if Virginia is making breakfast?" He wondered aloud, forcing himself to get up. Ever since she had arrived two weeks ago, she had been making some meals for the former pilots. Duo_ loved_ her cooking in general, though it was her desserts that were to die for.

Besides, if he didn't get up, who would wake up Wufei?

(Space)

By the time Duo got downstairs (after waking up Wufei), Virginia was indeed making breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon seemed to be her meal of choice today, as she had eggs being cooked, and the bacon waiting for its turn.

"Good morning, Duo." She said cheerfully, with a smile in his general direction. "Could you make enough orange juice for all of us?" She asked, indicating the necessary materials that were already laid out.

"Good morning, and sure." He replied. That was another thing about her. She always seemed to know exactly who was going to be up when, and planned for them to help her accordingly. And it wasn't just with meals, either. It was with_ everything_ she did. Cleaning, cooking, shopping, anything she did, she did it at the exact time the person she wanted to help her was free. She also always knew where everybody was, at any time. Nothing big, but enough. Duo might have even overlooked it entirely if it hadn't happened once to many times to be coincidence.

_Could she know?_

"Virginia, is it possible for you to dream of a past you don't remember?" He asked, beginning the task she had set for him.

She sent him an unreadable glance. "It is. But only if there is a person who sends you the dreams, and only if you had a past life. I assume you remember perfectly your current life, and are getting dreams that are too real to be dreams, am I correct?"

He stared at her, a bit surprised. "How do you know?"

"Well, that _is_ sort of an odd question. And it makes sense, especially this early in the morning, when you have just woken up. The dream, or vision, would still be fresh in your memory, correct?"

Now he was openly staring at her.

She smiled slightly. "Anything in particular you would like to know?"

"Are you a witch?"

She laughed softly. "Define witch. Why do you ask that?"

"Because you know… too much. It's nothing special, but you just _know too_ _much_. And, witch – someone who uses magic. Lights fires with her mind, makes contracts with the devil, sees the future, does scrying, that kind of stuff." Duo replied, seeming a bit overwhelmed.

"No, I am not a witch." She said, voice dry. "But I can do scrying. If you'd like, I could look for the person who is sending you dreams. Though it may not work."

"Really?" Duo said, blinking. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Then why did you ask?" She chuckled. "Here," She got a big bowl out from under the sink, and filled it with water. She then set it down on the table. "I can look right now, before the others come down."

He walked next to her so he could see over her shoulder. She looked in the water quietly for several long, drawn out minutes. Finally she looked up.

"The reflection did not change." She told him.

"That means it didn't work, right?" He said with a half smile. "It's alright, it was a nice shot."

She sighed, softly, as the others began to come down the stairs.

(Space)

"You knew the reflection wouldn't change." The voice accused. Shina had retreated to her room after breakfast.

"So? I didn't lie." She responded. "Though I'm surprised he didn't realize that he wasn't reflected in the water."

Death sighed, appearing behind her. "He still doesn't expect you to be the sender, though you all but spelled it out for him. Though you never told him he was wrong."

"He will figure it out eventually. It may take awhile, but he will figure it out." She said, ignoring Death's statement. "He will figure it out."

"I hope you're right." He paused slightly. "By the way, it _was_ an original prank." He disappeared.

Shina smiled.

(Space)

Shina heard a knock on her door. Heero. "Come in." She called.

Heero opened the door, came in, and then shut it again. For a while he just looked at her, not saying anything. Finally he broke the silence.

"What are you up to, Virinia?"

"Virinia? No one has called me that in a very long time. Where did you get that name from?"

"I don't break promises." He said, watching her carefully.

"A forgotten promise is not the same thing as a broken promise." She sighed. "I honestly didn't expect you to remember it. What else do you remember?"

"Not much. Faces, mostly. No names. Except for yours. Virginia. Virinia." Again, the look.

Silence. Then, "For how long have you known?"

"Since Duo brought you here. I recognized you as soon as I saw you. It all has to do with him, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Unlike you, he remembers nothing. None of the others do. Past lives _are_ normally forgotten, after all."

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Sorry it's so short, but I'm pressed for time and I got almost no reviews last chapter.

I want 5 reviews before I update again.

I don't even care if you're flaming me, just review already!

I hope you liked it.

DarkLady


	9. Chapter 8

Hello.

Thank you to all _three_ of you who reviewed: Jjinks, Vwolf Youjutsu, and Hitokimi. I really appreciate your reviews.

A super thanks to Jjinks, who has reviewed every chapter since ch. 1, and Vwolf Youjutsu, who has done the same since ch. 5.

Sorry the update took so long, but school has been very demanding.

And I only got **THREE** reviews.

Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter!

Disclaimer: The chances of me owning Gundam Wing are the same as a snowball's chance in hell in July during a dry season.

Enjoy! (And review?)

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Shinigami

(Last time)

"What are you up to, Virinia?"

"Virinia? No one has called me that in a very long time. Where did you get that name from?"

"I don't break promises." He said, watching her carefully.

"A forgotten promise is not the same thing as a broken promise." She sighed. "I honestly didn't expect you to remember it. What else do you remember?"

"Not much. Faces, mostly. No names. Except for yours. Virginia. Virinia." Again, the look.

Silence. Then, "For how long have you known?"

"Since Duo brought you here. I recognized you as soon as I saw you. It all has to do with him, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Unlike you, he remembers nothing. None of the others do. Past lives _are_ normally forgotten, after all."

(Now)

Heero shrugged. The oath he had taken was _meant_ to last through death. He had known he would die, and prepared accordingly. He still remembered the oath. It was hazy, but he still remembered.

_Memory_

_He was standing next to her. She seemed really sad. _

"_You know what will happen next." He did not make it a question. She nodded. "Why are you worrying? We have done this before."_

_There was a long pause. He knew she was figuring out what to tell him. "You will all forget me. I will be forgotten, and I will be alone."_

"_Yes, I know, but won't you forget us too? At least for a while." _

"_I don't think it will happen that way this time." Then, in a prophetic voice, she said, "You will all continue on, but by my choice I will be left behind, and you will all forget me." _

_He stared at her. "We would never leave you alone! We swore our lives to protect you! If you don't go on, then why would we?"_

_She smiled at him, but he still saw the sorrow in it. "You won't have a choice in the matter."_

_He stood by her for a while more, wondering what he could say to help her. Finally he had an idea. He drew the dagger that hung from his belt, and slashed the palm of his hand with it. _

"_I swear to you, that even if we all die and you are left alone with the pieces of our deaths, that I will not forget you, Lady Virinia Maxwell. In whatever life I live next, I will remember the name and face of the woman I swore to serve. I seal my oath with my blood."_

_She truly smiled at him._

_End Memory_

"You are Duo's sister, aren't you?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm surprised you didn't recognize me when I ortal idiot who tried to burn Duo to a crisp."

"Stop trying to change the subject. Duo wants a family, why don't you tell him? You're probably the only living relative he has. And I promised to remember Virginia, not Shina. I had little to do with Shinigami affairs, and I swore to remember the woman I swore to serve. You are – almost two different people, Shina and Virginia."

"I don't tell him because he has to remember on his own. I can only help him from the shadows. And… it may not be wise to give a family member that will not last for much longer."

Heero looked at her quietly. Then, "You are dying."

"Yes. I have been dying slowly ever since your deaths nine thousand years ago. I don't have much time left."

"What keeps you here?"

"There is still something I have left to do."

"Then you'll leave us."

"No. I will always be listening, even if I am dead. And in time, I, too, will be reborn. And when that happens, I will find my way back to my eight Guardians."

Heero frowned, and cocked his head to the side. "Guardians?"

She smiled quietly. "I will tell you, because when I do die, someone will need to continue with our job. We are the nine Guardians, and each one of us guards a certain element from misuse. The elements are Water, Fire, Lightning/Air, Earth, Empathy, Mind, Fighting, Chaos, and Healing."

He cut her off. "The first four elements I can understand, but can the other five really be considered elements?"

"Each one has it's own strengths, and weaknesses. I did not create the elements, but everything comes under those nine categories. If it were not separate, where would Mind fit under Water, Earth, Fire, and Air? Or Chaos? Or Fighting? That is the best answer I can give."

Heero thought about that for a little bit. "Which element am I?" He asked.

"You will figure it out with time. But, as Guardians, we go to different worlds, and make sure there is no misuse going on there. In doing so, we keep order."

"The message the Shinigami wrote said they guarded magic." Heero commented.

She smiled dryly. "Well, as we were down to one Guardian, I enlisted the help of the Shinigami. They were glad to help out their Eldest."

He thought about that. "Which element are you?"

"Water."

"What can you do?"

"I specialize in making illusions, which is a water based skill. I am also a strong enough water mage to drown or dehydrate a person. I can create water… the list goes on."

Heero blinked. "You can drown a person?"

She smiled smugly.

(Space – several weeks later)

Virginia looked up. "Duo? You look exhausted. Having trouble sleeping?"

Duo had just walked in. He had bags under his eyes, and he wasn't even making an effort to be cheerful. "Yea. Those damn dreams won't leave me alone…" he mumbled.

Virginia felt Heero's glare from where he was sitting at the table.

She glared right back.

Quatre walked in, cheerful as always, and took in the scene of Virginia and Heero glaring at each other and Duo looking like he hadn't slept in weeks.

_She's probably the only person other than Duo who won't give in to Heero's glare,_ He thought. _And I think she_ is _the only person who dares to return it._

"Good morning. Um… did I miss something?" He asked, looking from Heero to Virginia and back again as they finally broke the staring match.

"Hn." Was Heero's only answer.

Virginia managed a stiff "Good morning, Quatre. Don't worry about it."

He blinked, and looked at Duo, who shrugged.

"Duo, you don't look so good. Are you OK?" Quatre asked, sounding concerned.

"It's those dreams." He replied. "They won't leave me alone, and I'm not getting a lot of sleep."

Quatre noticed Heero shoot Virginia another glare, which she ignored. He filed that away for further analysis later.

_He doesn't think_ she's _sending him dreams, does he?_

_Is she?_

(Space)

The Queen of Demons let the image shatter. So, the Eldest was indeed favoring people. Five to be exact.

And she was pretty sure she knew why, too.

"So that witch has found her Guardians." She sounded extremely disappointed. "I had hoped they would die before she found them. But it probably would have happened anyway." She sighed to herself.

She sent out a call to the demons currently living near the Hall of Darkness. She waited until the demons had come to her, gathered in her throne room. _It is a pity_, she reflected, _that the devils broke free before I could put them to much use. They would have been extremely helpful in this situation._

"Listen to me." She hissed at them, completely capturing their attention. "I need all of you to kill the Eldest of the Shinigami. If you don't, she will become High Queen" – she spit out the title – " of the Immortals. Then she will destroy you all." She paused here while the demos booed.

Just as she opened her mouth again to speak, she found herself cut off. "And what will you do once you kill her?"

She glared in the direction of the voice. She saw Devron, the devil that had helped the others of his kind break free. He sat on the rafters, leathery wings folded behind him.

"Make myself Queen, and bring darkness to the worlds."

He looked at her. Then he shifted his gaze to the demons. "Your _Queen_ lies to you." He said. "If the Eldest becomes High Queen, very little will change, even for us. She is not aligned with good, but with neutrality. She understands what balance is." The look he gave the would-be Queen was full of contempt, and said quite clearly that he believed that she had no idea what balance was. "I, with all of you, am aligned with evil. However, evil cannot exist without good, and visa versa. This woman will bring you to the destruction of everything, including yourselves."

"What would a devil know of it?" She snapped.

"More than you think, apparently." He hissed back.

"Why are you standing for her? She will enslave you all!" She cried.

"Because once the Eldest becomes High Queen, _every being_ will call her Queen, even demons and devils. Think about it. Why doesn't she kill us whenever she has the chance? She lets us watch her!"

"Don't listen to the devil." She said to her demons. "Obviously, he has gone mad."

He stared at her. Then his attention shifted somewhat, as though he was listening to something. "Fine, kill her, if you can. You will only give her the throne faster." He warned, and disappeared.

She swore at the devil, well aware that he could no longer hear her. Finally, a demon spoke up.

"Even if we wanted to, we could not break free of you. So we will do as you command. But what will you be doing?"

She smiled grimly. "Distracting Them."

(Space)

The Gundam Pilots had decided to go to the beach for a while. Virginia had declined the offer to go, saying that they should do things together without her getting in the way every once in a while. Amazingly, there seemed to be someone else on the beach, even though in was February.

Trowa spotted her first. "There is a girl up ahead, coming this way." He paused. "She doesn't look like a threat."

The girl had black hair that was braided and wrapped around her head. Her eyes were black as well. She was coming their way.

Quatre shivered slightly. "Guys, there seems to be pure malice coming off that girl. Be careful."

To Quatre, the transformation that happened when she reached them was amazing. She went from the epitome of malice to a bowl full of sugar.

"Hello." She chirped cheerfully. "I thought I was the only lover of winter beaches."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Wufei snapped.

"No, not really. As I can see I'm not wanted, I'll be on my way." As she walked by them, she called back over her shoulder "By the way, my name is Eileen."

And the malice came back.

"That was… disturbing." Quatre muttered.

Heero glanced at him. "What was?"

"As soon as she reached us, the only readings I got off of her were like sugar." He sighed. "And then right after she told us her name, the malice returned. In full force."

"What does that mean?" Wufei asked. "Do you think she was an immortal?"

"If she was, I don't think she is a nice one. I don't want to meet her again. Ever."

"You may not have a choice, you know."

They all turned around. A woman in a long black dress was standing there. She had a veil over the bottom part of her face, and her long brown hair flowed freely behind her. She held a long bow in her right hand.

"Who are you?" Trowa asked.

"Your friend knows me."

"Who?" he asked, confused.

"Me."

They all looked at who had spoken. Duo.

"She's a Shinigami." Duo said. He seemed… trance-like. "Within the Shinigami are Orders, each related to different things. The Order of the Moon is a very rare one. Unlike other Shinigami, they were their hair loose and hide their faces. They favor the bow and arrow over the scythe or whip, as well, and are very selective about who enters their Order." He seemed to come to himself. "What? Those dreams are coming in handy after all."

The woman nodded. "Indeed, I am of the Order of the Moon. I have a warning for you. That thing – it is no girl – will cause great trouble for you all soon. Eileen was an immortal, who chose to walk what we call the Dark Path."

"Basically, she went evil." Duo explained.

"Yes. But she means to destroy our Eldest."

"So? Why tell us." Wufei asked.

"Because you are in her way."

"What do you-" Quatre stopped. The woman had disappeared.

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OK! Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? In-between?

This keeps on getting more and more complicated as it goes. If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer them, as long as they don't reveal part of the story line.

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

DarkLady


	10. Chapter 9

Hi!

A huge thank you goes out to all who reviewed: deppforever07, Hitokimi, Vwolf Yujutsu, moonpixi, Crysania Fay, Jjinks, spirit-gun, tyleet88, and Sutoomu.

BTW, for all of you who guessed elements to people a "good try" goes out. For those who tried, they got at least one right. However, I won't tell you who is what, you have to read!

Thanks also for those who keep on telling me they love/like/enjoy my story. Reviews like that keep me writing.

Yes, moonpixi, I will go into all of that as I go…

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! I'll try to continue to update as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Gundam Wing. Is there anyone out there who thinks I do?

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

(Last time)

"Indeed, I am of the Order of the Moon. I have a warning for you. That thing – it is no girl – will cause great trouble for you all soon. Eileen was an immortal, who chose to walk what we call the Dark Path."

"Basically, she went evil." Duo explained.

"Yes. But she means to destroy our Eldest."

"So? Why tell us." Wufei asked.

"Because you are in her way."

"What do you-" Quatre stopped. The woman had disappeared.

(Now)

Kitten had kept Virginia company almost all day while the boys were out, basically helping her do chores and other things. After they had finished cleaning up, they went to the living room to talk for a little while before Kitten had to go.

That was when things got interesting.

"Are you Shina?"

(Space)

On the way home, Duo was unnaturally quiet.

_Why me? Did I do something wrong and anger a deity of some sort? Because if these dreams continue I am going to collapse one day. I just don't have the strength to keep on going with so little sleep._

Duo felt someone staring at him. He looked up, and saw it was Heero.

"What?" He snapped. He knew he wasn't acting like he normally would, but he figured a lack of sleep would do that to a person. Unfortunately, his uncharacteristic outburst made the others stare at him too. Heero looked away.

"Duo… are you feeling OK?" Quatre asked.

"No, I'm not. What clued you in?" Quatre looked struck at Duo's tone.

"It was a question. There was no reason for you to snap at him." Wufei said.

"Well maybe-" Duo stopped, feeling suddenly dizzy. _Oh shit, not good._

"Duo?" Quatre's voice held concern.

"I'll be… fine. Just give me… a few minutes…" He managed to get out.

Right before he passed out entirely.

(Change point of view)

Heero watched Duo collapse._ I'm going to kill that woman. Queen or not, she should control what she's sending, and allow for _some _sleep._

"Duo!" Quatre yelped, catching him before he hit the ground. "What happened?"

Just as Heero was about to open his mouth to speak, another voice cut him off. "He's exhausted."

They all turned, and for the second time that day saw someone appear out of nowhere. A man with reddish-brown hair and black eyes watched them.

"Who are you?" Heero knew his voice held a small amount of exasperation, but seriously, what was with all of these people?

The man smiled at him slightly. "Right now, it really doesn't matter. But what I can tell you is that I am the Guardian of the element of Healing."

Quatre looked at him, confused. "What is a Guardian?"

The man looked at Quatre, slightly surprised. "You don't know?"

They all shook their heads, except Heero. The man looked at him quickly, but said nothing to him directly.

"A Guardian does exactly what the title says. He or she guards. In particular, they guard one of the nine elements." He paused. "You do know what the elements are, right?"

"I know of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth, but I have no idea what the other five are." Wufei commented.

The man looked slightly confused, but replied, "Yes. Those are four of them, though Air is usually called Lighting. The other five are Empathy, Mind, Fighting, Chaos, and Healing. Which I am going to put my knowledge of to use right now. Your friend is suffering from exhaustion. He needs to get in more sleep, and I wouldn't bother him for the next few days. If he doesn't want to sleep, make him. Healthy, awake people don't collapse."

Quatre was looking at him oddly. "I use Empathy, don't I?"

"You would know that better than I would."

Heero spoke up. "What if he can't sleep?"

The man turned to look at him. "He's sleeping now. Well, not really, but close enough."

"No, I mean… what if someone was keeping him from sleeping by sending him dreams? Is there anyway to block that?" Heero tried.

The man regarded him solemnly. "What makes you think that someone is sending him dreams?"

The others were looking at him oddly now, too. "I have it on excellent authority." He ground out.

"If you are so sure, then, try to ask whoever told you that to shield him, or you can, if you know how. If the dreams do indeed originate from an outside source, that would stop them."

"What if my source is the one sending them?" Heero was getting slightly annoyed.

"Well then, perhaps he or she will take pity on your friend and let him get better before continuing to send him dreams." He tilted his head to the side. "Who are you? You speak of things as though you should know them, but don't."

Heero glared at him.

The man's eyebrows went up. "I see. I wish you well, then, cousin." He disappeared. No puff of smoke, or sparks, or even a popping sound. He just disappeared.

"Heero – what was that about?" Quatre asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked flatly, going to pick up Duo.

"That guy called you 'cousin'" Wufei said.

"And when you glared at him… your eyes seemed to glow red. It was… just a little, but I could have sworn I saw them glow red." Trowa put in.

"_Which element am I?" "You will figure it out with time."_ She had told to him.

_Am I fire?_

"I highly doubt that my eyes glowed. And who knows why he called me cousin?" Heero countered. In all truth, he didn't have the slightest idea why the guy had called him cousin. Had he figured out Heero was one of the other Guardians? He was not one of the few Heero remembered.

Though he did remember a figure in black, like the man had been in.

Heero sighed, and began carrying Duo home.

(Space)

"Are you Shina?"

She didn't even bother to turn around. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

A devil materialized into the room. "I am Devron, a devil."

"Why are you here? Just so that you know, I don't usually entertain devils or demons of any kind." She replied.

"Be careful what you say, Devil, and remember who you are speaking to." Kitten warned him.

Devron through a glare at her, then turned back to Virginia. Carefully, he took the required three paces towards the Eldest, then bowed stiffly.

Virginia and Kitten traded looks. _He's trying to make an impression_, Virginia thought. _But what would make him do so?_ She caught the look of disgust on his face when he bowed to her, and laughed to herself. _He'll do it if it means my attention, but that doesn't mean he has to like it_.

"Lady Virinia of the Guardians." It came out as more of a hiss, though she could see he was trying to control himself somewhat. "The woman who has deemed herself Queen of the Demons is trying to kill you."

She raised an eyebrow. "I knew that."

"No, I mean kill you. Destroy you if she can achieve it. And to do that, she has to go through your precious Guardians." Ok, now he was really trying to control himself.

She merely gazed at him for a few moments. It was very rare that a devil attempted to contact her. _And_, she reflected_, I'm making no effort to make this easy. The fact that he hasn't attempted to rip off my head says something in his favor_.

But still. "Why do you care?"

He was not happy with her. "Because the balance must be maintained. I have no plans on seeing myself destroyed because the balance got thrown off." He managed to hiss, sounding barely civil.

She smiled dryly. "Well then, I thank you for your warning." She paused, was there anyway to reward him?

"Don't bother." He muttered. "There is nothing I want that you could grant me. Legally, anyway." He disappeared.

"That was interesting, Shi." Kitten commented. "It's not every day that a devil comes to say hi. And he managed to do it rather civilly, too."

Virginia rolled her eyes. "It never happens, Kit. Not unless they want my head to take back with them, anyway."

Kitten laughed, but was cut off as another being appeared in the room. "You're popular today, Shi." She sighed.

Virginia shook her head and looked at the new visitor, and smiled. Reddish-brown hair, black eyes. "Gene! What are you doing here? You should visit more often."

He frowned at her.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" She winced.

"Yes, you are. I assume you're the one sending Duo dreams?" She nodded. "Then for the love of light, please_ stop_. Just stop, even if for a little while. Lady, he collapsed. He's not getting enough sleep."

She looked upset. "He collapsed? Where?"

"I don't know, on a beach somewhere. He was with four others. Lady, is one of them the Fire Guardian and one of them the Empathy Guardian?" He questioned.

"They are all Guardians, and yes, one of them is the Fire Guardian and one of them is the Empathy Guardian. Why do you ask?" She grinned at him. "And how do you like your cousins?"

He shook his head, probably at her enthusiasm. "Because when I asked him who he was, his eyes glowed red briefly. And no offence meant, but they are a little… odd."

She chuckled softly. "Odd really doesn't begin to describe them. But look on the bright side! When I finally kick the bucket, you get to teach them all about being Guardians."

They both stared at her.

"What?"

"Do you really have to refer to your death that bluntly?" Kitten asked, wincing a little.

"And how is that the 'bright' side? I'd hate to see what your idea of the dark side is." Gene muttered. "Trust me, I am not looking forward to that. Maybe you can stick around a bit longer than you originally intended to?" He voice seemed to be pleading with her.

"Gene, as a Healer, you know that even if I wanted to stay my body will fail eventually. It can no longer really function as well as it did when I was linked with my circle, and even though you've all been reborn, too much damage has been done in the interval. As it is, my magical strength is also much weaker than it was." She replied soothingly. "And since it's my death, I can refer to it however I want!" She grinned.

They both sighed.

Gene shook his head. "Back to the original point. Can you make sure Duo drinks this somehow?" He asked, giving Virginia a small packet of herbs. "It will help him sleep better. And please, either take a break from sending him dreams or shield him against them, because the next time he collapses it will probably be much worse."

Virginia took the packet from him. "I promise, he won't receive any more dreams until he is better. And I won't overburden him again, either." She looked at the little packet sadly. "I didn't know it was that bad."

Gene gave her an incredulous look. "You didn't know? He looks like he hasn't slept in weeks!"

"I knew it was affecting him, I just didn't know it was that bad. I would've gone a little easier on him if I had known how bad it was." She said mournfully.

"What's done is done, Shi." Kitten said softly. "Learn from it, and try not to make the same mistake again."

Gene suddenly blinked, and looked at Kitten. "And on that note, we should be going. The five cousins should be here soon."

Kitten smiled at him. "Well, then, goodbye Gene, and goodbye Shina." She gave Virginia a hug, then disappeared herself.

Gene looked back at Virginia. "Watch out for the Fire Guardian. He knows you are the source of the dreams, and he is not happy about it."

"Did he tell you that?" She asked curiously.

"No, but they do not know how to shield themselves, and I just pick things up." He winced. "It gets really annoying sometimes."

She smiled softly at him. "Good bye, Gene."

He gave her a hug, and she could feel a little of his Healing energy flow from him to her. "Good bye, Lady." He murmured, and disappeared, leaving Virginia alone.

(Space)

As soon as the boys got home, put Duo in bed and settled, Heero searched Virginia out of her hiding spot – her room.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing to Duo?" He snarled at her.

"I didn't, but someone I know came and informed me of his condition. I won't be sending him any dreams until he is better, and even then I won't send them so often." She replied, not meeting his eyes but choosing instead to look out the window.

Heero's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"You met him earlier today. The Healing Guardian, remember?" She said.

"Yes." He said slowly. Then, "Am I the Fire Guardian?"

She turned from the window to give him a very small smile. "Yes, you are. The most powerful Fire mage living and the Fire Guardian."

He paused. _Now what?_ He wondered. _I guessed right, what happens next?_

She winced suddenly. She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Gene was right." Then in a louder voice she said, "Now I teach you how to shield, so I'm not being pelted with thoughts. Well, from you, anyway."

"Isn't mind reading under the element of Mind?" He asked.

She smiled. "Most immortals have enough mind magic to communicate with each other and to pick up the stray thought, if they are not shielded. Now, where shall we begin?"

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So, how was that?

Here's a hint for you who like to guess: Chaos and Fighting Guardians are OCs, along with Gene. The rest of the Guardians fall under the Gundam Pilot category. Brownie points with whoever matches them all up right (except for the OCs).

Anyway, please review, and thanks for reading!

DarkLady


	11. Chapter 10

Hello!

Thank you to all of you who reviewed: deppforever07, Silvermane1, Furie, Jjinks, DangerSpud7, Kracken l.w, JustAWeirdo, Indi-Scarga, moonpixi, and Vwolf Youjutsu.

I'll list those of you who got the element/person match-ups right at the end, so it doesn't spoil anything in this chapter!

Moonpixi: Good point. Virinia is a more formal version of Virginia. When Devron was attempting to be formal, he used a title (Lady) and her more formal name (Virinia). Shina is only used when she is acting as a Shinigami, otherwise Virginia is used. And Kitten and Death will almost always call her Shina. Hopefully that makes sense to all of you who were wondering.

And I tried to explain it in the last chapter, but perhaps it wasn't done well. When Virginia had her circle, magical bonds held them together. When her circle died, those bonds broke. Because her spirit had grown use to the bonds, the lack of them threw off her internal balance, which affected her physical body. She was entirely un-stabilized. So she began to weaken slowly, both magically and physically, in effect, killing her slowly over about nine thousand years. Even though the members of her circle have been reborn, so much of her magical and physical health has been damaged that it is no longer repairable. Thus, she is dying.

BTW, I apologize for the last chapter. It wasn't very well written because I was in a rush. Sorry.

Also, I have pretty much the entire last chapter written, but I don't know how many chapters there will be in-between now and then.

Disclaimer: Let me check… ummm… nope. I don't have any documents saying I own Gundam Wing.

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

Duo woke up. He found himself in bed, wrapped up in several warm blankets, in his room.

_What happened?_

Dou heard the door open, and shifted slightly to see who it was. Quatre. He looked worried, but smiled happily when he saw that Duo was awake. He shut the door behind him and came over to stand by Duo's bed.

"Duo! You have no idea how good it is to see you awake! How do you feel?" He said, joy evident in his voice.

Duo winced slightly. "Not particularly great. I'm still very tired, and I think I'm going to have a headache soon. What happened? The last thing I remember is all of us on the beach, right after that girl – Eileen? – left us, the Shinigami dropped by, and I snapped at all of you. Then I find myself here. How did that happen?" He asked.

Quatre sighed softly. "You passed out. Heero carried you home. Duo, why didn't you tell us you were so tired? An immortal we met almost immediately after your collapse told us that you were completely exhausted. You should have stayed home and slept if it was so bad!"

Duo shrugged as best he could in his position. "I didn't think that I was _that_ tired. Actually, it only got to be that bad when Eileen walked by. I felt extremely tired, as though she had sapped what energy I had left from me."

Quatre frowned. That did not sound good. "Duo, do you even know if that's possible?"

He blinked sleepily. "I think it is. I seem to remember something like that, but I'm still to tired to bother to try to sort it out."

"Then get some rest, Duo."

(Space)

Virginia was watching Heero. It had been a few days since she had begun to teach him how to use some elementary magic. She had been intending to just teach him how to shield, but she had found that Heero learned very fast, and one thing had led to another.

She was in the process of teaching him how to use Sight.

Heero shook his head. "It's not working. What am I supposed to see again? And how am I supposed to See it?"

It was really amazing that it was one of the simplest things that he continuously failed at doing.

"What you See is energy flows. Each flow will be blue, red, yellow, green, gray, purple, brown, black, or a combination of them all. The color tells you which element the flow is affiliated with. For example, when done properly, you should see me, and then See blue energy with touches of the other eight flowing through me. And I've told you how to see it several times."

"Try it again." He ground out.

She smiled to herself. _He really does not like not being able to do something_, she thought. "Anchor yourself to the ground, then collect yourself together so you're not all over the place. Then just touch the core of your magic and you should See the flows."

This time, she used her own Sight to watch him. "You're not anchoring yourself very well, and your centering is not going well either. You are still sort of all over. It's close, but far enough off that it is keeping you from connecting to your core, thus keeping you from Seeing."

He frowned. "I thought my anchoring was pretty good."

"You're not – your actually connecting, but you're not becoming one with it." She replied.

"How do I do _that_?"

She smiled slightly, and began to sing softly. "Feel the rain on your skin. No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips. Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten."

He glared at her. "Stop speaking in riddles." He snapped. Then he tried again.

His centering and anchoring was so far off she was surprised he didn't just fall over.

"Umm… how about we try this again later. You've been trying very hard, maybe you're just to tired to do it properly." She suggested.

"Can_ you_ do it if you're tired?" Heero asked her.

"Well, yes, but I've also been doing it for a long time, so it's more of a reflex than conscious thought, which is what you have to use." She replied. "Actually, you've been doing remarkably well. You caught on to shielding and projecting very quickly, and you're pretty far ahead of most other beginners as far as centering and anchoring goes."

She guessed from the look on his face that "remarkably well" was not good enough for him.

"Well, how about we take a break anyway? I could use a good snack. Do we have the ingredients for cookies or brownies? I could make some." She said grinning.

"How on the Earth and Colonies would I know? I never cook." He asked, a little confused as to why she would ask him.

She winked, and began to head towards the kitchen. "Well, you _could_ be a closet eater."

(Space – a few weeks)

Eileen was back in her Hall, looking over her many demons. They were all under her control, waiting for the command to begin their assault.

"It'll never work."

That damned devil again… 

"And why not?" She sighed. "Because you're going to stop me? I think not. Not even you can stop a demon army of this size."

"It won't be me. The Eldest has her own plans in place, and her own spells. Many of them have been in place for millennia, which is more than I can say for you."

"Age isn't everything. Look what it's doing to her. She is nowhere near the strength she is rumored to have had."

The devil looked at her incredulously. "You think _age_ has done that to her? Just how dumb can you be?"

"Of course age has done it to her. You don't think she did it to herself, do you?" She laughed. "You are the idiot."

The devil sighed. "So be it. You are the biggest moron I have ever seen. I'm not even going to try to correct you – I've realized you're a lost cause by now. So go ahead, try to take her down. The only way you'll succeed is by going down yourself." And with that, he disappeared.

Eileen seethed. "Come back, you coward! I'll never need to stoop so low as to give up my life to take down an enemy! She is dying!"

She heard his voice one last time, before his presence faded completely. "And that is why she'll win."

Eileen shrieked in anger. "How dare you! I'll show you! All of you! Arise, my army! Kill the Eldest and her circle! Fly!"

The whole area was instantly filled with the sound of beating wings.

(Space)

Duo had been feeling much better. He had gotten well rested, and the dreams hadn't come once while he was recovering. Once he was better, they had started up again, but not with the intensity that they had had before and not as often.

And Virginia had made those _delicious _caramel blondies…

_I should really try to look through some of those memories to see if there is anything useful in them_, he thought. _Who knows what I may remember?_

"Duo."

Duo turned around at the sound of his name and almost collided with Trowa.

"Yea, Tro? What's up?"

Trowa was silent for a minute, and then spoke. "I was wondering if you noticed that Heero and Virginia have been spending a lot of time with each other lately."

Duo shrugged. "Yeah, I noticed. Didn't think about it too much. Why?" Duo grinned suddenly, full of mischief. "You don't think they're… you know…?"

He suddenly felt his braid being pulled. "Baka. Get your mind out of the gutter. She is only helping me with something." Heero snapped, then walked away.

"Well," Trowa said, "that's more than I've manages to get out of him. Before it was just 'nothing' or 'none of your business'."

Duo simply smiled slightly. "It's probably nothing. I'm sure she can take care of herself."

(Space)

Duo had been shifting through his new memories for a little while when he came upon it. A memory of the white haired girl, making someone forget who both Duo and the girl were. She had done it so that the person would not give them away, and because war called for all sorts of things. Though it was not the war that caught Duo's attention.

It was the spell the girl had used.

Something…

He almost had it. There was something else… almost as though he had seen it being done before, or maybe something like it…

Why can't I remember? 

And then it hit him; the barrier that had been preventing him from remembering broke.

She had done it to him.

And not in the past life.

Virginia! 

(Space)

Duo ran through the house, trying to find their houseguest. Finally he found Quatre.

"Quatre, where's Virginia?" he gasped out.

"Dou! What's-" He was cut off as Duo grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Where. Is. Virginia?" Duo hissed.

Quatre looked at him in surprise. Duo was normally rather even tempered, he wondered what must have happened to make him so angry.

"She and Hero went down to the beach." He managed to get out.

Duo dropped him almost immediately and ran out of the house.

(Space)

He found them on the beach, Virginia up to her knees in water, Heero watching from the sand. She seemed to be trying to explain something.

"VIRGINIA!" Duo shouted.

Heero turned to look at him in surprise. Virginia simply looked at him, as though she knew everything.

Duo knew enough to know that she pretty much did.

"Not me, Duo. Save your energy." She said, her voice almost emotionless.

That stopped Duo. "What?" He cried. She wasn't making any sense. "What are you talking about?"

"What on the Earth and Colonies is going on?" Duo turned to see Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa running towards them.

Duo saw the water begin to move around her. Her hair turned to brown and braided itself. The water moved up, changing her clothing to black.

The others stopped, staring at her in shock. Heero, however, did not seem very surprised.

Out of the water besides her grew a scythe. She walked towards Duo. About 10 feet away she stopped and tossed him the scythe.

"Not me, Gami." She whispered.

And all of hell broke loose. Literally.

(Change point of View)

Heero watched Virginia "transform" into Shina, and give the scythe to Duo.

"Not me, Gami."

Something told him to guard. He pulled out his gun.

Wings and inhuman shrieks filled the air.

Demons! 

Heero knew they were all going to have to fight if any of them were going to stay alive. Shina could only give them so much warning, thus she had give Duo the scythe. He knew he had to kill as many demons as possible.

He found himself killing many, many demons. At some point, he nearly ran right into Shina, who was using a whip covered in thorns to fight.

"How much more ammunition do you have left?" She shouted over the noise.

"I don't know exactly, but not much." He shouted back.

She shouted a word, and the space around them was suddenly clear of demons as she pushed them back. She held out her hand, and fire formed a sword.

"Use this when you run out of ammo!" She said, tossing it to him, and again the world was reduced to wings and the cries of the demons.

A few more minutes, and his gun stopped firing. Instantly he switched to the sword, and started to cut down the demons.

He saw all the others to at different parts of the fight. Duo was wielding the scythe and becoming worthy of the title of "Shinigami." Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei all had different weapons as well, which he assumed Shina had given them. All of them were fighting for their lives.

At another point, he saw what he assumed to be a devil asking Shina something. She nodded, and he disappeared.

/_Do not kill the devils_/ came her voice into his mind.

He sent back a wordless reply of affirmation. He figured that Shina must have given the devils permission to fight with them.

He saw other Shinigami fighting, too. Everyone was trying their hardest to kill the demons.

He wondered at the irony that most of the people fighting could use magic, but didn't.

_Wait. I can use magic._

For just one moment, he stopped fighting.

Anchor… Center… Touch… 

Screams went up as demons burned. All of them, not just a few.

Just a little more…

The remaining demons that hadn't fled turned to ash.

Heero looked around at the devils, Shinigami, and pilots. He realized he must have been using Sight. Every one of them glowed, but eight stood out. He saw Virginia, who was mostly blue, and Duo, mostly yellow. Gene was with two other females, one who glowed every single color and one the glowed mostly brown. Gene himself glowed black. Quatre glowed mostly gray, Trowa mostly Green, and Wufei mostly Purple. They all had little bits of the other eight colors mixed in. He knew without looking that he was glowing mostly red.

The nine Guardians.

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So, how was that?

Actually, I think that the last part was a little rushed, but I have never done a battle before. I hope it was OK.

Congratulations to Furie and Jjinks, who guessed the elements and pilots right. Good job also to Indi-Scarga, who mixed up two of them. And also a good job to all who tried!

Anyway, I have drawn pictures of Kitten, Death, Virginia, and Devron (the devil), and I hope to scan them into the computer and post them on my photobucket account next week. I'll put up the address when I have done so for those who want to see.

Bye!

DarkLady


	12. Chapter 11

Hi!

Thank you to all of you who reviewed: Jjinks, moonpixi, tyleet88, Arabian, deppforever07, Vwolf Yujutsu, and Serenity Maxwell.

I'm going to try to update quickly, however there is so much that gets in the way _cough_homework_cough_.

I think there will only be about two to four chapters until I'm done. So I'm almost there, hang in and review and you get to find out how it ends.

Another point, I may do either a sequel or a prequel. Anyone interested, tell me in a review. I'll ask again in the last author note, I just wanted to get that out there.

Lets do an experiment. Whoever reads these author notes, review and tell me. If you don't review, I am going to assume that you don't read them. So even if that is your whole review, "I read it", tell me!

I have the pictures up. Go to photobucket .com, search for DarkLady9, and click on the Shinigami folder.

Disclaimer: Is it even humanly possible for the owner of a show to write fan fiction on it? They wrote the original; why would they change it?

(That means I don't own Gundam Wing.)

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

(Last time)

Heero looked around at the devils, Shinigami, and pilots. He realized he must have been using Sight. Every one of them glowed, but eight stood out. He saw Virginia, who was mostly blue, and Duo, mostly yellow. Gene was with two other females, one who glowed every single color and one the glowed mostly brown. Gene himself glowed black. Quatre glowed mostly gray, Trowa mostly Green, and Wufei mostly Purple. They all had little bits of the other eight colors mixed in. He knew without looking that he was glowing mostly red.

The nine Guardians.

(Now)

Duo looked around. He had been fighting one minute, the next everything was up in flame, and after that was nothing.

He looked towards Heero, who was glowing red. Then the aura faded, and the eyes faded back to blue. He was holding something that looked like a medieval sword, with several modest rubies on the hilt.

"What the _hell_ just happened?" Wufei asked, looking at Shina. "And what did you give us?"

"Exactly that, mortal," a large, red winged demon replied. "Hell just happened. We – or more accurately, Shina – were under attack from a force of demons strait from hell."

"As for what I gave you, I was simply returning weapons that were yours to begin with." Shina said. "Those weapons were made for you, in response to what your chosen weapon is. Heero, you have a long sword, Duo, a scythe, Trowa, bow and arrows, Quatre, sickles, and Wufei, a katana. These were yours a long time ago. Mine is a whip, though I also work well with a scythe, glaive, or daggers. You will also find that you work well with other weapons, and not so great with others."

Silence.

Heero sighed. "What she is trying but failing to say is that she has had these for a long time. We used to have them and she is now giving them back. The type weapon you were given is the weapon you work best with."

"I don't recall ever owning this." Trowa stated, looking dubiously at the bow in his hand.

"That's because you've been dead since you've last owned it." Duo commented, not taking his eyes off Shina, who nodded.

"That's right. There was a group of us, nine in total. Now, the five of you plus me equals six." Her voice turned to a vague sarcastic wonder. "Now I wonder who the other three could be?"

"Lady that would be us." Said the woman dressed in brown dryly. "Let us introduce ourselves. I am Leanne, of Fighting."

"I am Yudisey, (1) of Chaos." Said the other, multicolored woman.

"We have met before, though I did not tell you who I was. I am Gene, of Healing." Said the man in black.

"Ah, yes, _now_ I remember." Virginia laughed softly. "And I will tell you this right now. Gene, as the oldest, ranks above you when I am not around. Heero also shares that responsibility. Should anything happen to me, those two will lead you."

"What if we don't want to be part of your little group?" Wufei asked.

"You have the choice to act as not part of the group, but you cannot choose to not be in it. You are all bound to each other, and not even death will break those bonds. Sorry, but the task was given you a long time ago, and thus you cannot not be a Guardian."

"Are all of us Guardians?" Quatre asked, noting that the Shinigami and devils had all left. "If we are all part of this group then wouldn't we be able to do magic and stuff?"

"Ah, but you all can do magic." Shina commented. "You use your "magic" every day, Quatre. You are an empath, some one who can feel the emotions of others, and can to some degree change them. Surely you must know what I am talking about? And yes, you are all Guardians." She looked extremely pleased with herself for some reason.

"We can all do magic? Where was that during the war?" Wufei asked.

"Sleeping, where it could not do you or someone else any harm. You, Wufei, are a psychic mage, and have the ability to tell the future to a certain degree, mind speak, and to attack or control the mind of another." Shina replied

"What about the rest of us?" asked Trowa.

"Well, you are an earth mage. You can make pretty much anything grow at any pace you'd like, and you can cause earthquakes. Duo stands for air, which means that he can call lightning, suffocate people, etc. Heero is a fire mage, which is pretty self explanatory," she said looking around at the still smoldering remains of the demons. "Gene is a Healer, again self explanatory. Leanne is a fighting mage; she can adapt to any weapon within a few minutes and she can move other's bodies against their will. Yudisey is a chaos mage." She finished.

"What can Yudisey do?" Quatre asked.

"That's my secret." Yudisey laughed, winking at him.

Shina smiled slightly. "In the nature of chaos, no one really knows what they can do until they do it. Things just… happen around them, though they maintain that they know what they are doing."

"What are you?" Trowa asked.

"I am a water mage. I can do illusions, create water, drown or dehydrate things, etc."

"She has quite a few other powers, too." Duo said. "She is touched by Death's power, as she is a Shinigami, and she can suppress or create memories." He sounded bitter over this.

"Please don't be upset." She said. "You should know why I did it."

"Yea. Lot of good it does me." He paused, glaring at her slightly. Then he smiled. "But now I have a sister again!" He laughed, flinging himself at her and nearly knocking her over. She returned the hug just as enthusiastically.

"You can see the resemblance." Heero noted, looking at the two siblings. "Though this isn't what she really looks like, it is the image she takes when she acts as Shina."

"What does she really look like?" Wufei asked, curious.

"Much like she what you are used to, white hair, pale skin, etc. The only real difference a pale blue, eight-pointed star that is on her forehead." Heero replied. "It marks her as Queen, or as the future Queen."

Shina grinned. The mark that Heero had described flashed briefly on her forehead.

"Well, I think that we should all go back to the house. Do we have any ingredients for cookies?" Shina asked, as her hair and clothing faded back to their original colors, leaving her as Virginia.

"Is that all you think about?" Wufei asked. "Food?"

"Well, now we know where Duo gets it from." Trowa commented. "It runs in the family."

(Space)

Eileen was furious.

"HOW DARE SHE!" Came the angry shriek. "I HAD HER! SHE WAS MINE!"

Devron watched from his perch on the rafters. _Shina has to kill her now_, he thought. _Eileen has gone completely mad_.

"I told you it wouldn't work." He said, drawing her attention. "She is still much, much stronger than you, dying or not. She has to be, it's her job."

"You!" Eileen spat, glaring at Devron. He reflected that if looks could kill, He'd be roasting over a fire. "You made sure she would win! You ruined my plan!"

"You don't know that. And I did very little towards the battle itself, the fire Guardian was the one who burned your army to a crisp."

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN! I WOULD HAVE WON IF YOU HADN'T INTERFEARED! DIE!" She screamed, flinging a bolt of energy at him, which he managed to dodge at the last moment, flinging himself to another rafter.

She kept on throwing energy at him.

Devron winced, knowing that this could not continue for very long. _I would kill her myself, but I am not strong enough, and she is not stable._

_I need to warn Shina._

_She'll know what to do._

With that thought, he dodged another blast and teleported himself to safety.

_At least, I hope she'll know, because we're all dead if she doesn't._

(Change point of view)

Eileen watched that annoying devil disappear. _That should be the last time I see him. , it's all his fault that the bitch triumphed. If he hadn't done… something… I would have won!_

_It's all his fault!_

_I'll start making new plans. It has become obvious that I can't rely on others; I'm going to need to kill her myself._

_Then I will rule._

(Space)

"Lady, you look extraordinarily pleased with yourself, which is rarely a good thing. What is going on?" Gene asked, looking at Virginia with a look of dread.

"Nothing much." She replied, happily humming and smiling cheerfully.

"I am distressed that you did not say "nothing"." Gene commented.

"Well, don't be." She paused. "Well, OK, you can be distressed. I have decided to let the three of you help teach the five boys out there until they remember everything on their own."

Leanne laughed shortly. "Not. We'd all kill each other."

"I have to agree. That may not be a good idea. Ooohhh, I know. How about YOU teach them, Lady?" Yudisey suggested.

"No, I've decided to let you three have the honor. If it's any consolation, Heero already knows all the basics." She said, still smiling happily.

"That's… not much help. It just means he can set us on fire if he gets annoyed." Gene pointed out.

"Who's setting who on fire, and why?" Duo asked curiously as he bounded into the kitchen. He sniffed the air. "Ooo, what are you making, Vir?"

She smiled. "If I have anything to say about it, no one will be setting anyone on fire for any reason. And I'm making angel food cake."

"Yum. Glad about the fire. Do we have any food that is readily available to be consumed?"

Yudisey rolled her eyes, and pushed a plate of cookies towards him. "Cookies with caramel, milk chocolate and white chocolate chips in them. If you had a choice, who in this room would you like to learn how to control magic from?" She asked.

"He grabbed a cookie and began eating it, thinking over the question. "Umm… you, because I think you would be the most fun." He said, looking at Yudisey.

Virginia tried to smother a laugh, Gene choked on the water he was drinking, Leanne's mouth almost hit the floor, and Yudisey smiled dryly.

"You would willingly let yourself be taught by a chaos mage?" Leanne asked in amazement, glancing at Gene who was still trying to collect himself.

"Well, yeah, why not?" Duo asked, grabbing another cookie.

Gene finally spoke up. "Because… because…"

Yudisey cut him off. "May I remind you who you sleep with?" She asked sweetly.

Gene winced and shut up.

Duo raised an eyebrow at Virginia. "Oh, they're together. Have been for a while. Soul bonded, actually." She paused. "You didn't know?"

"No." He replied. "Not that it matters, except that now I can't hit on her." Yudisey rolled her eyes, and the others acted as though they hadn't heard. "When will the cake be done?"

"Is food all you think about?" Leanne asked.

"Ahh, no. I also think about fighting, playing, etc." He said, smiling happily.

Virginia smiled, and decided to pull them back on topic. "Would you like to learn from Yudisey?" She asked kindly.

"Well, yeah. As long as she doesn't mind."

"Oh, I don't mind. You're probably the only willing student I'll ever have." Yudisey commented dryly. "Can't miss this opportunity."

Virginia smiled again. "Well then, you two can work out when Yudisey is going to try to force info into Duo's head. As for the others, I suggest one of you take Quatre and Trowa and the other one take Heero and Wufei. You two can work that out, right?" She asked cheerfully.

They looked at each other. "Are you sure you can't take one or all of them? You've already started to teach Heero." Gene pleaded.

"Gene, you know perfectly well I won't be here forever. Best that they get used to you now, rather than later." She replied. "Now who wants to tell the other four?"

(Space)

"How's it going?" Virginia asked, poking her head into the room where Gene was teaching Trowa and Quatre. She had suggested those pairs for a reason. Since Gene was soul bonded to Yudisey, she hoped he would be able to see the bond growing between Quatre and Trowa. It was small, but there.

"Remind me to kill you later." Gene said cheerfully. He got up and walked over to her. "Actually, it's not going too badly. Both show a willingness to learn, and Quatre already knows how to do everything on an instinctive level. He's helping me with Trowa." He tilted his head to the side, and she felt his mind brush hers.

_/Sister(2), are they soul bonded/_ He asked.

She smiled. _/Yes, they are. That is why I wanted you to teach them./_

_/Ahh…/_ He walked back to the pair, who were talking quietly, and began to speak to them again.

She withdrew herself from the room, and continued on to where Leanne was attempting to teach Heero and Wufei.

_Well, she is succeeding in teaching Heero; it's Wufei who's being difficult. _

Heero looked up, despair on his face. Leanne and Wufei were arguing next to him.

_/Save me/_

_/Ahh, no, sorry. How is it going/ _

_/Not great. It's mostly Wufei's fault, he thinks she's mocking him or something./_

She smiled at him. _ /They'll get over it./_

_/I'm going to need proof to believe you on that one./_ He sent, disbelief evident.

_/Let's just say I have the knowledge of another life./_ She sent, making it sound mysterious.

_/Whatever you say. But please give me something to do; Leanne's time is mostly taken up arguing./_ He begged.

_/Practice grounding and centering. If that gets boring, light a bit of Wufei on fire without hurting him. That should stop the fighting for a bit./_

_/Thanks./_

She nodded once at him, and then left quietly, amused that neither Leanne or Wufei had realized that she had been there. Suddenly she heard a yelp from Wufei.

_I guess Heero got tiered of it very quickly._

Quickly she debated whether or not to check up on Yudisey and Duo. Deciding she liked existing in one piece, she began heading once again for the kitchen.

_/It will be interesting to watch them learn, no/_ She heard, sensing Death near her.

_/Indeed, it will be./_

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(1) This is pronounced U-di-see, long U, short I, and accent on the first syllable. Give it a try!

(2) No, they are not blood siblings. Gene is just using another mode of addressing her, one that is less formal, and it signifies that they are close, and is reminiscent of how close they were as a circle before all of them died.

So, did you all like it? I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I had a lot of stuff going on over break. But I will finish this story, as long as I get reviews.

Again, if you would like to see some pictures I drew, go to photobucket .com, search for DarkLady9, and click on the Shinigami folder. You need to take out the space between "photobucket" and to get it to work.

Thanks for reading!

DarkLady


	13. Chapter 12

Hi!

Ok. Jjinks brought up a good point. Originally, Heero would have been with Virginia. However, it will not change the story if Heero is paired with Duo.

So, I'm going to leave it up to you.

You all have two chapters to respond. Is Heero going to be paired with Duo, or Virginia?

And no, moonpixi, I am not going to make it Virginia/Duo. We are deciding who HEERO will be paired with, not who Virginia and Duo will be paired with, and under no circumstances will they be paired with each other.

Um, this is going to sound really, really dumb, but… what is "WOOT"?

Thanks to Sutoomu, moonpixi, Jjinks, Serenity Maxwell, deppforever07, and Vwolf Yujutsu, who all reviewed.

I'm so glad that I write these notes for a grand total of 6 people.

Oh, by the way, in the last chapter when people were mind speaking, the question marks did not show up. So whenever they were mind-speaking and there was no punctuation, there was supposed to be a question mark.

Umm… this chapter is going to be kind of short, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway!

Disclaimer: All of these long, cold nights I have sat in my secret Lab, testing the limits of Alchemy, and turning dirt to pure Gold, and yet my search for the secret of owning Gundam Wing comes no nearer to completion.

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

(5 months have passed. It is August)

Virginia smiled to herself. Gene, Leanne, and Yudisey had been teaching their respected "pupils" for about 5 months. All of them were making quite a bit of progress. Well, Leanne and Gene were making progress. She _assumed_ that Duo and Yudisey were making progress, but she could not say for certain. She was kind of scared to go check on them.

_Lightning and Chaos… _not_ something I want to get in the middle of._

She felt Heero's presence brush across her mind. /_You were a little _too_ right for my taste_. / She "heard".

/_How is that?_ / She asked back.

/_Leanne and Wufei… if I hadn't been here in the beginning, I wouldn't believe that they once were constantly arguing_. /

/Why/ She sent more of a picture than the word.

She sensed him sigh. /_Because now they are working together very well. Almost to the point of excluding me unless I speak up. And even then, they seem startled, as though they didn't know that I was there_. /

Virginia smiled quietly to herself. /_Well, the best thin you can probably do is wait for the infatuation to wear off, and then they will act sort of like Gene and Yudisey._ /

There was silence for a few minutes, though she did not feel Heero pull away. Then he spoke again. /_Do I even really need to be here?_ /

/_Why do you ask?_ / She asked curiously.

/_Because I remember pretty much everything about my former life, which includes the spells. The only thing I lack is practice._ /

Virginia pondered that for a few minutes. /_How far ahead of Wufei are you?_ / She asked finally.

/_About 4 thousand years ahead. Actually, I think I am ahead of Leanne, too._ /

She laughed at that. /_If you remember everything, then that is very possible. But why do you think that?_ /

/_Because when she gave me a higher level spell to work on when I showed her that I was well ahead of Wufei, she made a rather large mistake on part of the wording. Actually, the fact that she is still _using_ words was kind of a clue._ /

/_All right, I think you can disengage yourself from the two of them. You have to remember, none of them are adults yet – they are all under 4 thousand years old. You, however, have almost all your memories from your last life, which gives you the wisdom of a young adult of our people._ /

/_Thank you._ / He sent thankfully, relief evident in his "voice". Virginia felt his touch recede.

Ferrana, one of the two Shinigami who had first seen Duo, popped into the room right next to her. She made a small bow towards Virginia.

"Does he really remember everything?" Ferrana asked Virginia.

"Almost everything. He won't remember everything until after I have died. But he does know enough to be considered a master in his field. I don't see any reason to keep him around the other two anymore, as he has started to pick out mistakes that Leanne is making." She replied with a small smile. "What can I do for you?"

"A Devil names Devron has asked to meet with you on neutral ground." Ferrana replied.

"Did Devron specify where?" Virginia asked.

"Yes, actually. He suggested the desert world of Wüste."

"Alright. Tell him that I accept. I'll meet him in Wüste in two days time."

(Space)

"What I don't understand is why you don't seem to be taking this threat seriously! Eileen is obviously insane! You would be doing her and the rest of existence a favor by killing her!" Devron shouted at the Lady. Why wasn't Virginia listening to him? She had accepted his information about Eileen and her plan to kill the future Queen personally, and then seemed not to care.

"I am taking this seriously. Don't worry; I have almost everything under control. Eileen will not kill either me or the other Guardians." The Lady said calmly.

" 'Almost everything'! Well, how comforting! I'm so glad to know that you are going to take care of the matter!"

"You know as well as I do what has to happen. Calm down for a moment, and think. If you were me, and in my place, what would you do?" She asked.

Devron opened his mouth to shoot back a cruel remark, but then shut it again. She was probably right; she was always right.

And he would have made the same choice that she did.

He turned and fled, too angry to say good-bye, even though it would be the last time he saw her. He could not come to her aid this time; she had forbidden it.

The wind still carried her last words to him, even though he did not wish to hear them. "Good-bye. Until we meet again."

(Space)

Kitten curled up in her father's embrace. "She slips a little farther from us every day." She said sadly.

Death looked down at his daughter, knowing what she said was true. Well, not quite. "You mean she slips _closer_ to us every day. She's dying, which would bring her into our realm."

"No, I mean she slips away. She has been… closing herself off, a little bit at a time. She is distancing herself, and I can not figure out why." Kitten said, sounding very upset.

"Remember that she is fading, which can be very painful, yet she has dealt with it for many, many years. She is nearing the end, and so the pain of simply living is becoming too much." Death responded. Kitten pulled away.

"Do you know how it will end?" She asked, switching from upset to worried.

"Of course I do."

Kitten waited for him to elaborate. "Well?" She asked when it was clear her father wasn't going to.

"You'll see. You have to wait too, just like everyone else." He paused. "But you won't have to wait long. The end is approaching."

"But that's horrible! Can't the healers do anything for her?"

"They've been trying, but there is no real cure for lacking the will to live." He replied.

"But… her Guardians have been reborn. Doesn't that count for something?" She asked.

"It's too late." Death sighed. "The events have been set in motion, and no power that exists can change the course of the future now."

(Space)

Virginia looked up from the book she was reading. The wind invaded the tree she was sitting in, whispering softly and urgently to her, telling her what was going on.

_It won't be long now. Eileen has decided to make her move. I just hope that I am strong enough to deal with her, and that I have the will to deal with her when the time comes._

_There is more than one life at stake here…_

(Space)

Eileen hissed, seeing the pitiful number of demons that had answered her call.

_Well, I'm just going to have to deal with it. It's less than I would like, but it should be enough to distract everyone from Her. Then, I can move in, and destroy Her! She won't stand a chance, not against me. She's too weak, and she is dying. Easy prey. _

"Listen to me, all of you! The time is now! All you pathetic creatures need to do is keep the Guardians from their Queen! Is that too much for you sorry excuses for demons to handle?" She shouted at them.

She heard murmurs in the assembled mass, but chose to ignore them.

"Then let us go! I will lead you, and there is no way that we will lose!"

_That devil was wrong; there is no way that I will not triumph…_

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Yeah, really short. But that is where I'm going to leave it off for right now. There will be one more chapter after this, and then an epilogue.

Wow. There was a lot of thinking in this chapter, and not a lot of action. But there will be plenty of that next chapter.

I found the techno version for the song "Simple and Clean" from Kingdom Hearts, and it's all I can listen to. I just LOVE it.

Yeah…

So, if you could, please please PLEASE review, and tell me who Heero should be paired with.

I hope you all enjoyed it, short as it was…

DarkLady


	14. Chapter 13

Hi!

Last A/N, I said that I would let you all vote for whether Heero should be with Virginia or Duo. You all have one more chapter to vote if you care. The votes are so far:

H/D – 6

H/V – 4 (2 reviews and 2 people who read, but don't go on so Duo is winning. By quite a bit. Please vote, I'd like to know what you all think. If you have already voted, then thank you, and no double voting is allowed.

Sorry about taking so long to update, but a lot has been going on, and I'm only allowed to go on the computer for a set amount of time a day now. But it's a snow day, and I am all alone with the computer…

There will only be one more chapter after this.

You know, when I look at the hits just the last chapter has gotten, it says 338. Now, I know that it counts each opening of the page as one, without regard as to who opened it, but unless the ten or so people that continuously review for me read the chapter 33 times each, other people are reading this story. Why do you not review? Do you all not like it? If so, why are you reading chapter 13? Any words of encouragement are nice, they keep me writing and keep me updating faster.

Well, as fast as I can.

Thank you to Sutoomu, zex, Indi-Scarga, Mithryl, Hitokimi, Calli Maxwell, moonpixi, Jjinks, deppforever07, Serenity Maxwell, and Vwolf Yujutsu, who all reviewed.

Disclaimer: My search has taken me to the high mountains of the world, where I nearly died several times, yet I still have not found the rights to owning Gundam Wing.

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

/_Come to me._ /

Yudisey held up a hand, stopping Duo from completing the spell. She sent out soft enquiries, listening for more. _It's coming…_

/_Come to me, cousins._ /

"That's Virginia." Duo said.

Yudisey nodded. "It is the Lady. Now, we just need to figure out where she is."

"I…I think she set up a path for us to follow." Duo murmured, his eyes looked slightly out of focus.

Again, Yudisey nodded. "She has. How about following it? Do you think you can do that without any help from me?"

He remained silent for a moment before answering. "Yes" he said finally, "I think I can trace it."

"Good." She paused, as the voice of her Lady came again.

/_Come, cousins. Time is short now, we do not have all the time in the world._ /

_Does Duo know what this battle will mean to us all? Does he know how much will change for us?_ "We should get going. Lead the way. You can do it."

Duo nodded and they both stood up.

(Space)

Virginia was waiting for them. She looked around, letting a small smile come to her face. _How ironic. This is where I met them, where it all began. Now it is where we will part, where it will end. Yet, I can't regret. If I could, I suppose that this would be something I would regret, that I didn't spend more time with them. _

She walked to where the ocean met the sand_. It will take some time for all of them to get here, as none of them have remembered there wings yet. Well, actually, Heero has, but he is keeping them a secret for the time being. So I will rest for now while I wait. It is… almost over. _

She hummed softly to herself as she went deeper into the water. When it was about waist height, she loosened the bonds that gave her a physical form, and entered the water as a part of it.

(Space)

Duo looked around. At the beach. _Why is it that everything happens at this damn beach?_ He asked himself dryly. "This is where she led us, but I don't see my sister anywhere." He told Yudisey.

His teacher nodded. "It is indeed where she led us. And she is here, I can sense her. Seeing is not everything, and when dealing with a water mage seeing is often nothing."

"Especially a water mage with the Lady's strength and skill." Came a voice from behind them. Both Duo and Yudisey turned to see the rest of their little group. Gene continued speaking. "It is possible that she joined with her element, the is certainly enough of it he– Heero, where are you going?"

Hero had walked down to the water. He knelt down just within the water's edge, and touched the water. He closed his eyes.

He stayed that way for several minutes before he stood up. Duo watched him using Sight, trying to figure out what he was doing, but he couldn't See anything. He opened his eyes, which were glowing red. The water began to swirl around him, turning into a huge spinning column, hiding Heero from view. Then the water began to calm and return to its original small waves. As it fell, it revealed Virginia standing next to Heero.

"May I suggest that when this is finished, you all go back Home. There is still much that you all need to learn, except for perhaps Heero. Out of all of you, only he knew how to call me from the water." Virginia said, smiling.

"How did he know what to do?" Wufei asked.

"I knew because I have all the memories of my past life."

Duo took a closer look at Heero. It was true, Heero had changed since Virginia had come to them. He moved more gracefully than he had before, hell, he even _stood_ more gracefully, held himself differently. And there was… almost a… _glow_… around him that Duo could have sworn was not there before.

And his eyes had changed.

Before this whole mess had started, Heero's eyes had looked haunted, as he had seen too much pain, death, and suffering too fast and too early. They had had a pained, haunted look to them that was disturbing to see, whether or not it was recognized. They were so different now. It seemed like you were looking into twin deep pools of wisdom. There was still the feeling that he had seen a lot, more than he should have for his age, but the pained haunted look was gone. Actually…

They looked like Virginia's.

And when Duo looked at the others, he saw that they had reached the same conclusion. He also noticed that Gene's, Yudisey's, and Leanne's eyes did not have the same deep wisdom in them.

Heero turned his head to the side, as though he was listening for or to something. He held his arm out, summoning his sword in a burst of flame. "High Lady, they are coming." He murmured softly to Virginia.

She nodded. "Summon your weapons." She murmured, as a glaive appeared in her hands.

The others did as they were told. "Oh, by the way, Heero will lead you now." She commented with a smile as Heero shot her a death glare.

And the sound of wings once again filled the air.

Except this time they were not attacking, not really. They were flying around them, stopping any escape, but not actually harming them.

/_Stand your ground_. / Came Heero's mind voice.

A woman appeared in the center of the clearing. Duo recognized her as the girl they had met so long ago on this very same beach, around the same time they had first met Gene and that Shinigami of the Order of the Moon. Except this time, she made no effort to hide her identity. She looked evil… just… evil.

She shot them all a smile that was cold and, well, evil. "My name is Eileen, the Queen of Demons, and soon to be Queen of everything. And unfortunately for all of you, you are in my way. So now I have to destroy you. Well, specifically, I have to kill Her." She looked at Virginia. "So I really hope you are all prepared to die. You won't get help from your devil friends this time."

Virginia smiled slightly. "You can't win."

Eileen's glare could have boiled a rock, but it apparently didn't affect Virginia. "And what makes you say _that_?" There was a slight hiss to her words.

"I am going to stop you." She answered. Duo found himself and all the other Guardians being pushed away, until they were closer to the wall of demons than he would have liked.

/_She has put up a shield. Evenly space yourselves around it in a circle._ / Heero ordered. They did as they were told.

The two women were facing each other at opposite ends of the shielded space. Heero spoke to them all again.

/_Join with me and with each other. We are going to put up a shield around ourselves and her shield_. /

Duo focused, and sensed the others doing the same. He reached out to the two on either side of him, Heero and Wufei, and joined first with them until every one was joined with those on either side, and then they all joined together. Trowa was on the other side of Heero, then came Quatre, then Yudisey, then Gene, then Leanne, the Wufei, and back to Duo. It was an odd feeling, as it was like sharing the thoughts of seven other people, but it was not unpleasant. They raised another shield around themselves and Virginia's shield.

Virginia was not transforming into Shina.

Alarm bells were going off in Duo's head, and he sensed confusion from everyone else in the link too, except for Heero.

/_She does not have to be Shina to fight. She was an adult long before she became Shina, and you must remember that though they look different, they are still the same person. She will be able to hold her own._ /

Duo sighed, but he knew Heero wasn't lying. His own memories were still very fragmented, but it seemed true.

Eileen had a weird weapon that Duo had never seen before. It looked like it was based off a spear, but it had an odd point that kind of twisted in a weird way. It also had six whip-like things hanging off near where the blade connected to the handle, which had another, more normal point on the other end and jagged spikes sticking out on the top third of it. /_What the hell is that thing she's using?_ / Duo sent.

Leanne answered him. /_I've never seen it before, but it seems to be a cross of a spear, whip, and rose bush. She can probably use it as a whip to some degree, too_. /

/_Sounds good_. / Quatre muttered.

/_Were… you just being sarcastic?_ / Trowa's shocked mental voice asked.

Quatre avoided answering.

Eileen charged at Virginia, who instantly stepped to the side and struck out with the glaive. Eileen dodged, and snapped the weapon at her, causing the things hanging off it to whip at Virginia, who barely dodged them. Again Eileen snapped the whips at her, but Virginia spun her glaive, forming a sort of shield and causing them to bounce off harmlessly. Virginia then seemed to disappear – /_She's phasing._ / Heero said – and then reappeared behind Eileen and swung the glaive, forcing Eileen to block using the weird spear thing.

Eileen's face was full of rage. Apparently she had thought that Virginia would be an easier target. Again she tried to gain the upper hand, this time by swinging the spear thing so that the spikes on the side would hit her. Virginia blocked it easily using the glaive, but forgot about the whips, which continued swinging until they hit their target – Virginia's back.

Duo saw a flash of pain cross Virginia's features, but it was momentary, and she managed to disentangle herself from the whips and spin away. Duo saw six large gashes in her back, and winced for her, sensing the others react in almost the same way.

Eileen was ecstatic. "First blood is mine, _Lady_." The infliction on the word "Lady" made it very clear she thought Virginia was no such thing. Virginia remained silent.

/_That's disgusting. She_ likes _causing others pain._ / Quatre sounded disgusted, and Duo could sense vague nausea from him through the link.

/_It's called sadism_. / Heero answered, sounding sick and disgusted as well.

_/I hope she's not masochistic too, as that could end up being problematic._ / Yudisey muttered.

/_I don't think she is, as she_ is_ trying to avoid being hit. And I don't see any scars of any sort on her that would lead me to believe that._ / Gene answered.

Again Eileen tried the same move, but Virginia was better prepared this time. Instead of blocking it with her glaive she unfolded wings that had been hidden, wings that were white with a hint of blue. She used them to shield herself. Duo winced wondering what that spear thing could do to tear the wings apart, but was surprised when it simply bounced off.

/_The wings of immortals are different from the wings of birds. When an immortal wants them to, they can harden, yet still retain the flight property. Each feather is also like a mini blade, as they are all sharp edged when the wings harden._ / Heero's voice whispered to them. /_Watch._ /

And watch they did, as Virginia spun into a complicated attack sequence. She swung the glaive and her wings, just battering at the spear thing. Finally she saw an opening as she batted the spear away, and she spun one more time, slashing Eileen across the face and stomach with the edge of her wings. She then phased across the shielded space to give them both more time to breathe. Eileen was left with her hand to her left cheek alone on one side of the clearing. When she brought her hand away, Duo could see three deep lines etched into the skin bleeding freely, and seven gashes across her stomach, also bleeding.

/_Umm… just how sharp _are_ those wings?_ / Wufei asked.

/_Very sharp. They can cut through quite a bit._ / Heero answered.

"You bitch! How could you do that to me?" Eileen snapped.

Virginia did not answer.

Eileen looked at her, now getting annoyed. "Why don't you speak? Trying to scare me? Well it's not working!" But Duo could hear the slight tremor in her voice.

/_She _is_ a bit frightened by Virginia. She thought that she could win this easily, but she has found that's not true. And an opponent who does not speak, and whose expression barely changes is rather disconcerting to the other_. / Heero told them.

"SPEAK, damn you!" Eileen shrieked, and flung herself at Virginia once again, swinging the spear thing above her head, trying to bring it crashing down on Virginia. Virginia danced out of the way, and dropped to the ground to kick Eileen's legs out from under her while she was trying to regain her balance. Eileen hit the ground and tried to roll out of the way as Virginia jumped back up and slashed with the glaive, but she misjudged the distance between her and Virginia and was rewarded with a large slice in her left arm. She hissed in pain as she jumped to her feet, and let loose a combo attack that consisted of kicking, whipping, and stabbing. Virginia held out, but was rewarded with two gashes on her right arm and another on her left leg.

/_If they survive, they are both going to be_ covered_ in bruises._ / Gene muttered.

Eileen smiled triumphantly, but it didn't last, as Virginia immediately retaliated with a counter attack of her own. Again Virginia's wings and glaive left their marks in the form of a large gash on Eileen's back and many smaller cuts all over her. She was also favoring her right foot.

Eileen made as though she was going to swing at Virginia again, but pulled back as Virginia went to block, throwing her off balance. Eileen threw a whirlwind at Virginia – one that had teeth. When Virginia finally countered it, she, too, had multiple cuts, and bruises were beginning to form.

/_And so magic enters the fight_. / Heero murmured dryly.

Virginia pulled back for a moment, and then flung a waterspout at Eileen. Eileen put up a shield, but Virginia's eyes narrowed slightly, and it shattered, letting the waterspout pick up Eileen. She was flung around a few times before she pulled herself free and collapsed the spout.

/_Why isn't Virginia using the greater magics she told us about?_ / Duo asked.

/_She… has not had the strength to use them for a while._ / Gene's mind voice was hard to hear, it was so soft.

/_Why? What happened to her strength?_ / Trowa asked.

_/… She's dying. Fading, actually. Her strength has been disappearing little by little over the course of the past 9 thousand years_. / Gene answered, still speaking very quietly.

A shocked silence answered him. But then Duo noticed something else.

Heero was not surprised. He could sense sorrow and pain from him, but no shock, no surprise.

/_You… you knew, Heero?_ / He asked.

He got a feeling of sorrowful affirmation.

/_Why didn't you tell us?_ / Duo whispered.

/_She did not want you all to worry._ / Came the soft answer.

Duo pulled his attention back to the battle going on before him. Both Virginia and Eileen had once again pulled apart from each other, both looking rather the worse for the wear. They had both gained more cuts, slashes, gashes, and bruises. They were both breathing very heavily, too.

"You will NOT win." Eileen snarled. She again charged Virginia. Somehow, in the confusion, she managed to get behind her. Duo saw it happening, but was unable to do or say anything, and Eileen took a hidden dagger from the end of her spear thing. She again swung the weapon, causing Virginia to block it with her glaive. She plunged the dagger into Virginia's back, and then swung herself away from Virginia.

Virginia screamed in pain. As she fell to her knees and hands. Through Quatre's empathy, he could_ feel_ the pain coming off her. It was almost like he had been hit instead of her, and he could sense the others around him stagger as well.

/_Keep the shield up!_ / Heero cried through the pain that they all shared.

Eileen laughed.

"Looks like I win, little princess." She purred, beginning to walk towards her. She stopped though, as Virginia pulled herself to her feet.

"What the hell ARE you? Don't you die?" Eileen cried.

Virginia held her hands in front of her chest, and a clear crystal in the shape of a starburst appeared in between them(1). Her glaive remained on the ground near her.

She began to sing.

"_We are young, heartache to heartache we stand_

_No promises, no demands_

_Love is a battlefield_

_We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong_

_Searchin' our hearts for so long_

_All of us knowing, love is a battlefield"(2)_

The crystal glowed brightly, until the only thing visible was the bright white light.

Quatre screamed.

When the light finally cleared, neither Virginia or Eileen was there.

/_Quatre!_ Quatre! _Snap out of it! It's not you!_ / Heero's voice cried. Duo sensed pain and immense sorrow coming from Heero. When he looked, he saw that Gene, Leanne, Yudisey, and Heero all had tears running down there faces. He realized both shields had been broken, and all the demons were gone. Heero was shaking Quatre, who looked like he had gone into shock. Trowa was also trying to get Quatre to wake up. Finally Quatre blinked, then just burst into tears. Heero handed him to Trowa.

"Ro, what just happened?" Duo asked, his own voice sounding shaky.

"She used Final Strike, Duo. She killed Eileen, and took herself out with her."

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(1) This is not mine. This is from Sailor Moon – it's like the heart crystals, just clear.

(2) This is not mine either – This is the chorus to Pat Bennitar's song, "Love is a Battlefield". Don't sue me over it. Please don't report me over it – it's one chorus, and I acknowledge it's not mine.

The whole Final Strike thing isn't mine, either. It has been lovingly stolen from Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" bunch of books.

Please don't kill me. I really hope no one is crying over this, it wasn't meant to be that sad. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed it, it is the last time we will ever see Eileen.

Thanks for reading, and please review. One more chapter left!

DarkLady


	15. Epilogue

Hi!

This is the last chapter, the epilogue. Thank you very much all of you out there who reviewed and read my little story. It really means a lot, and it kept me writing through to the finish!

Would any of you read a sequel or a prequel if I chose to write one? If you would like one, the other, or both, then tell me, and I'll see what I can do.

This is a SHORT chapter. That's why it's an epilogue.

Heero/Duo wins.

Thank you again to all of you who have reviewed!

Disclaimer: My search has taken me to the bottom of the oceans, where there is no light except for glowing fish, but the rights to owning Gundam Wing were not there, either.

The song in this chapter is "A Lifetime" by Better Than Ezra. It is not mine. Don't sue me over it.

Enjoy!

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Shinigami

_Allie woke up 8AM, Graduation day_

_Got into a car, crashed along the way_

Duo was singing softly next to him as they looked out over the ocean, a song Heero recognized as "A Lifetime" by some band. _Well, it_ does _fit, to some degree. Virginia did die._

_  
We arrived late to the wake, stole the urn while they looked away_

_And drove to the beach _

_'cause I knew you'd want it that way_

After Virginia had destroyed herself to kill the former Queen of Demons, Eileen, the remaining eight members of her circle had found themselves confused and in pain. Heero had managed to drag them back to Quatre's house, where they had basically crashed for the next week, dazed and hurting over the loss of their Queen and friend.

_  
And you were standing_

_On the hood of the car_

_Singing out loud_

_When the sun came up_

Heero knew everything, though. He out of all of the remaining Guardians remembered his past life. So he knew that, in time Virginia would be reborn, just as they had been, and he knew that they were going to have to find her.

_  
And I know I wasn't right_

_But it felt so good_

_And your mother didn't mind_

_Like I thought she would_

_And that REM song was playing in my mind_

_And three and a half minutes_

_Felt like a lifetime_

_  
Felt like a lifetime_

Unfortunately, she had left him as High King while she was dead. _Just what I need. Politics_. But he knew that not only his circle, but all the immortals needed a leader. He just happened to be the only one fit for the job, as not only did no one else remember their past, but the line of succession passed to him, as he was stronger than all the others in the circle save Virginia.

_  
And you move like water_

_I could drown in you_

_And I fell so deep once_

_'Till you pulled me through_

He did need to bring them Home, though. They needed real teachers to help them get stronger, as the other four were rapidly catching up to their teachers. Home would be good for them all, actually. He needed to re-meet the Advisors, and bring the news of how their Queen had died. He was pretty sure they already knew that she was dead; they would have felt the passing of a Queen to Death's Halls.

_  
You would tell me, _

_"No one is allowed to be so proud, _

_they never reach out, when they're giving up"_

After the others had been fully trained, they could begin with their jobs – the jobs of being Guardians. Virginia had done it alone, save for the Shinigami, for 9 thousand years. Now there were eight of them to go around. Heero hoped she had left notes.

_  
And I know I wasn't right_

_But it felt so good_

_And your mother didn't mind_

_Like I thought she would_

_And that REM song was playing in my mind_

_And three and a half minutes_

_Felt like a lifetime_

He was pretty sure Duo understood now that he was the leader of the Shinigami until their Eldest was reborn. He knew Duo could handle it, and he knew that Kitten and the other Shinigami would help him as best as they could. He smiled to himself. _ If I know Death, he will want to help, too. It is not in his nature to let them struggle, and who would blame him? He created them, after all. And we will help, too._

_  
Are you sitting in the lights?_

_Or combing your hair again?_

_And talking in rhymes?_

_Are you sitting in the lights?_

Heero continued thinking to himself._ I think I will only stick around for a few months when I bring them to Virilia. Then I will go on to doing what I'm supposed to be doing – guarding against the misuse of magic. _

_  
When I got home, heard the phone, your parents had arrived_

_And your dad set his jaw, your mom just smiled and sighed_

He looked at Duo, still singing that song next to him. He and Quatre had really taken Virginia's death the hardest. Quatre had felt her die, that was why he had broken free of the link before it backlashed into the rest of the group, causing their shield to fall. And when Virginia died, _her _shield had collapsed, causing the force of the Final Strike to destroy all the demons as well. Luckily, she had had presence of mind enough to shield her Guardians. They would all have died if she hadn't.

_  
(And you move like water)_

_But they left soon, and I went to my room_

_Played that disc that you'd given me_

_And I shut my eyes_

_Swear I could hear the sea_

Duo had, of course, taken it hard too. His only living relative had basically committed suicide right in front of him. Heero thanked a God he didn't believe in that Gene was also a mind healer. With his and Heero's help, Duo had begun to get better. He was still upset (duh), but it was no longer the destructive force it had been when Heero had explained to him that his sister had just died. Heero could have died for hurting Duo like that.

_  
And we were standing_

_On the hood of your car_

_Singing out loud when the sun came up_

He guessed that, in time, they would all heal. And then, when they were ready, they would go back to their duties as Guardians. And one day, the High Queen would be reborn, Heero would (finally) be able to step down and simply become a Guardian again, and they would all be together. And Duo wouldn't cry anymore when nightmares came of his sister dying in front of him.

_  
And I know I wasn't right,_

_But it felt so good._

_And your mother didn't mind,_

_Like I thought she would._

_And that REM song was playing in my mind_

_And three and a half minutes_

Three and a half minutes 

_  
Felt like a lifetime_

Heero heard Duo's voice fade away. "Pretty. A fitting tribute to her, I think." He murmured.

Duo gave him a weak smile in return. "Now what?" He asked, his voice quiet.

"Now, we go on living. She did not want us to cry over her. You'll see her again, Duo. Even now she is not truly gone. She's here now, if you choose to listen."

_: That's right, Love. I'm always here for you, if you just listen for me. Don't cry for me, I wasn't worth it. You must be strong, for both the Shinigami and the Immortals will need you. Can you be a Guardian::_

Duo's eyes widened as he heard her voice on the breeze. It did sound different, Heero reflected, than mind speech. Duo nodded.

_: Then live. :_

Again Duo nodded. "See?" Heero said. "She'll always be here, and now she can help us when things get too difficult. Be happy for her. Remember, she was fading, which is a very painful death. Final Strike was quick and painless. And Duo… I'm always here."

Heero sensed her smile at them, from wherever she was. "Come on, let's go home." He said.

They left the beach for the last time.

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Well, you all like?

Hopefully. That was kind of what I was aiming for when I wrote this story.

So, I hope you all enjoyed it.

IF ANY ONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, I WOULD BE GLAD TO ANSWER THEM AT THIS POINT. ASK ME IN A REVIEW OR E-MAIL ME. I WILL ANSWER.

Thanks for sticking with me!

DarkLady


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